A BIZARRE spectacle is playing out within the hallowed halls of parliament. On Thursday, the National Assembly Speaker accepted the resignations of 11 PTI lawmakers, and the MNAs were subsequently de-notified by the ECP. The PTI lawmakers had submitted their resignations in April after the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan had succeeded. However, the acceptance of the resignations raises a number of key questions. Namely, why did the Speaker choose to accept the resignations of these 11 MNAs, and what will be the fate of the rest of the over 100 lawmakers of the former ruling party? The Speaker should at least explain why he chose to accept these particular resignations. PTI leaders have been up in arms, calling the move “political” and “unconstitutional”. Even by the byzantine standards of Pakistani politics, these developments are quite odd.

So what will be the game plan for both sides from here on? There are some media reports that say another batch of PTI lawmakers will have their resignations accepted in the coming days. The Speaker had earlier asked the PTI MNAs to confirm in person their decision to resign. Yet, reportedly none of the parliamentarians showed up. One view is that the PML-N does not feel threatened by any possible defections amongst its less ‘committed’ allies in the House and has started the process of accepting the PTI’s resignations in a piecemeal fashion. But, the directly elected seats that have been vacated, and any future seats to be de-notified, will have to be filled via by-elections. Here the PTI is confronted with another dilemma. Will Imran Khan’s party field candidates, just as it did in the case of the Punjab Assembly by-elections? If the PTI does contest the by-polls and manages to get its candidates elected to the National Assembly, will they attend parliament sessions, stay away, or submit their resignations again? Clearly, the political calculus is of a very convoluted sort, as both sides seem to be playing mind games with each other. Moreover, Mr Khan has said he wants nothing short of fresh general elections, but by-polls on over 100 seats would effectively spell a mini-election. In a saner world, both the government and opposition would have sat together to sort out such a parliamentary dilemma in a democratic fashion. But in today’s much polarised Pakistan, where politics has turned into a farce, progressive thinking is not to be expected from any of the protagonists.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2022