ISLAMABAD: Speaker of the National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf today accepted resignations of another 43 MNAs of PTI though they requested him not to accept resignation a day earlier.
NA Speaker has sent names of PTI MNAs to the Election Commission of Pakistan for their denotification.
Speaker of the parliament approved the resignations a day after 45 PTI MNAs tried to meet the speaker, sent him emails, and WhatsApp messages to withdraw their resignations.
PTI leader Fawad Chauhdry said the NA Speaker had done all this to protect opposition Raja Riaz.
He said that with the return of the PTI in the parliament, opposition leader was to be appointed from the PTI.
Fawad said, “Right now, Shehbaz Sharif has lost the support of 172 MNAs and he is relying on turncoats to save his government.”
s a result of the speaker’s actions to save Raja Riaz, 40% of seats are now vacant, he added.
“Country is close to elections now. The only solution to this problem is general polls,” said Fawad.
Earlier, on Monday (Jan 23), Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf requested the Election Commission of Pakistan not to accept further the resignations of its MNAs in case NA Speaker accepts more resignations.
About forty-five MNAs of PTI sent emails and WhatsApp messages to Speaker of the National Assembly on Monday, requesting him not to accept their resignations.
The PTI MNAs have changed their mind after the speaker has accepted resignations of about 80 lawmakers of the party in three phases.
In Three phases, NA Speaker has approved resignations of 123 MNAs of PTI in just one week time soon after Imran Khan vowed to return to the parliament. Khan also said that PM Shehbaz will be tested with vote of confidence.
On Monday, 45 PTI MNAs also urged NA Speaker not to accept their resignations. The NA secretariat reviewed the constitutional and legal matters pertaining to the PTI MNAs request via email and WhatsApp.
Experts said that MNAs were required to submit hand written requests if they want to withdraw their resignations.
PTI leader Asad Umar disclosed this on Monday, saying the lawmakers of the party will sit in the parliament. Asad Umar said that PTI chairman Imran Khan directed his party’s MNAs to withdraw their resignations together.
PTI leader said, “The next step will be the nomination of the opposition leader,” but with approval of another 43 resignations of PTI MNAs, there is no chance for PTI to grab the portfolio of opposition in the parliament.
On Jan 20, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) denotified 35 MNAs of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf after Speaker of the National Assembly accepted their resignations.
The Commission denotified four women MNAs elected on the reserves seats and 31 other MNAs of the PTI. The ECP has shared the notification pertaining to the denotification of 35 MNAs of PTI.
As the NA Speaker accepted resignations of another 35 MNAs of PTI, total number of resignations, so far, has increased to 123 _ 122 PTI MNAs and one Awami Muslim League MNA.
About 131 MNAs of the PTI tendered their resignations en masse after Imran Khan’s government was ousted through a no-confidence move in April last year.
NA speaker on July 28, 2022 accepted the resignations of only 11 PTI lawmakers. On Jan 17, NA Speaker accepted 34 more resignations of PTI MNAs while he accepted resignations of another 35 PTI MNAs.
