• ECP de-notifies members after speaker accepts resignations of 34 PTI MNAs, Sheikh Rashid
• PTI questions motive behind ‘hasty’ decision, PDM to stay away from by-polls on vacated seats
ISLAMABAD: In an apparent bid to scuttle PTI’s purported plan to bring a confidence motion against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, National Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Ashraf on Tuesday accepted the resignations of 34 PTI lawmakers alongside AML chief Sheikh Rashid, resulting in their de-notification by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The ECP communiqué regarding the de-notification of the members, mostly the top brass of the PTI and former members of Imran Khan’s cabinet, came as a surprise for the PTI as well as political experts as only two weeks back, the speaker had refused to accept the resignations.
He had declared that the resignations would only be accepted following the personal appearance of these lawmakers before him for verification.
PPP secretary general Farhatullah Babar admitted that the move had come from the ruling alliance in response to the threat given by Mr Khan that he might return to parliament only to get the office of the opposition leader and to bring a confidence vote against the prime minister.
“Of course, it is a political decision taken by the speaker. Though I have not talked to him, he must have taken it after consultations [with the leadership]. It is in response to the threat given by Imran Khan that they might move a resolution against the PM,” said Mr Babar while talking to Dawn after this significant development.
The PPP secretary general said it seemed that Imran Khan had now realised his mistake and now wanted to return to the assembly to have a say in the future caretaker setup.
Mr Babar while defending the speaker’s action said that the PTI could still return to parliament as it still had some 70 members whose resignations had not been accepted yet. He added the speaker had still left the door open for them, but it would definitely be an “embarrassing moment” for Mr Khan and his party.
Won’t contest by-polls
Meanwhile, PDM leaders hinted at staying away from by-polls on the vacant seats. PDM chief Maulana Fazl, was quoted by Geo News as saying that the ruling alliance would not contest by-elections on seats left vacant by the acceptance of PTI resignations. PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah too, while appearing on Hamid Mir’s show, said that in his opinion “there was no need to contest elections on these seats” which are likely to be held in March — five months before the term of the current NA ends.
‘Accept all resignations’
Reacting to the acceptance of resignations, PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi dared the speaker to accept all resignations tendered by the PTI parliamentarians following Imran Khan’s ouster in April last year.
Speaking at Zaman Park in Lahore, he said it was dishonest on the part of the speaker to selectively accept resignations. “The speaker had been saying that he would accept resignations only after individual verification. What kind of verification he made on Tuesday?” he chided.
According to the former federal minister, the government feared facing people and was playing games in the name of democracy. “The haste with which the election commission de-notified those whose resignations were accepted by the speaker speaks for itself,” he said, adding that the PDM was shaken to the core when the PTI completed 186 numbers in the — now disbanded — Punjab Assembly. Now, it is acting out of fear and confusion, he said, demanding the speaker accept all 125 resignations.
Similarly, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry, in a tweet, urged the speaker to accept the remaining resignations of party lawmakers. He added until the speaker accepted 70 more resignations of PTI leaders, the slots of NA opposition leader and Public Accounts Committee chairperson belonged to the former ruling party.
Speaking about plans to topple Shehbaz’s government, Mr Chaudhry, was quoted by Dawn.com as saying that the PTI had formed a committee headed by Pervez Khattak that would go to the NA speaker and ask for party members to be given the offices of leader of the opposition, parliamentary leader and PAC chairman. “We are hopeful that the plan for ousting the federal government will be completed in a few weeks,” he added.
Names of lawmakers
PTI’s Senior Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Secretary General Asad Umar, and former defence minister Pervez Khattak are among those whose resignations have been accepted by the speaker. Besides them, the ECP has also de-notified former speaker Asad Qaiser from Swabi, former deputy speaker Qasim Suri from Quetta, and ex-ministers Fawad Chaudhry (Jhelum), Hammad Azhar (Lahore), Shafqat Mehmood (Lahore), Zartaj Gul (Dera Ghazi Khan), Ali Zaidi (Karachi), Shehryar Afridi (Kohat), Ali Amin Gandapur (Dera Ismail Khan), Omar Ayub Khan (Haripur), Murad Saeed (Swat), Noorul Haq Qadri (Khyber Agency), and Ghulam Sarwar Khan (Rawalpindi).
Other resignations include Malik Aamir Dogar (Multan); Imran Khattak (Nowshera); Raja Khurram Shehzad and Ali Nawaz Awan from Islamabad; Sadaqat Abbasi, Sheikh Rashid Shafique, and Mansoor Hayat Khan from Rawalpindi; Sanaullah Mastikhel (Bhakkar); Faheem Khan, Saifur Rehman, Alamgir Khan, Aftab Siddiqui, Attaullah, Aftab Jahangir, Aslam Khan and Najeeb Haroon from Karachi; and Aliya Hamza and Kanwal Shauzeb, who had been elected on reserved women seats.
Ahmad Fraz Khan in Lahore also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2023
