ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq said on Tuesday that lawmakers from the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI ) would be summoned to verify their resignations in groups of three. The process will begin on September 25 and will be completed by October 15. In this regard, party chairman Imran Khan has been called to appear in the Speaker's chamber on October 13.
Sadiq said that until the process came full circle and a resignation was accepted, a parliamentarian was allowed to take part in assembly proceedings and attend sessions.
The statement from Sadiq came as Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Emir Sirajul Haq called on the speaker and requested him to delay the process of accepting resignations to which Sadiq said that the process had already been delayed due to talks between the government and PTI.
Sadiq said the process of accepting resignations of PTI lawmakers would be followed as per law and procedure, adding that legal advice will be sought in case members of the party failed to show up for verification since there was no provision in the law for such a scenario.
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The Speaker said PTI MNAs would be summoned in groups of three, starting from September 25 to verify their resignations, adding that party chairman Imran Khan had been summoned on October 13 to confirm his resignation.
Thirty-one out of the total 34 MNAs of the party resigned from the National Assembly last month, weeks into the protests the PTI launched in Islamabad calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Also in August, the media wing of the NA Secretariat declared 26 of these resignations valid, adding that five contained minor errors and had to be resubmitted after corrections.
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