ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq accepted on Thursday the resignation tendered of estranged Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi.

Sources said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had been informed of the acceptance of the resignation.

An ECP official said the commission would issue a by-election schedule next week for the purpose of filling the National Assembly seat vacated by Mr Hashmi.

He said that under Article 224 of the Constitution, the commission was supposed to hold by-election to fill a vacant seat within 60 days.

Mr Hashmi distanced himself from the protest sit-ins organised by PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek in Islamabad when the two parties decided to mount a march on the official residence of the prime minister.

The next day Mr Hashmi said at a press conference that the ‘Azadi-Indepen­dence plan’ was a ‘conspiracy’ and that PTI chief Imran Khan had overturned within minutes a unanimous decision of his party’s core committee not to join the PAT’s plan for a march on the Prime Minister House.

Meanwhile, Mr Hashmi has decided to consult people of his Multan constituency before making up his mind about contesting the by-polls to be held to fill the seat vacated by him.

“I have not decided yet whether to contest polls or not, but I am going to my constituency where I will consult my voters,” Mr Hashmi told reporters.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2014