• Ashraf insists on individual meetings, lawmakers adamant their resignations be approved collectively
• Party members say they will approach Supreme Court
• Eyebrows raised as Qureshi, Khattak skip meeting

ISLAMABAD / LAHORE: The issue of resignations of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders from the Nat­ional Assembly remained unsettled on Thursday as a crucial meeting between NA Speaker Pervaiz Ashraf and a PTI delegation failed to break the deadlock.

The PTI delegation was led by former NA speaker Asad Qaiser after senior party leaders Shah Mah­mood Qureshi and Pervez Khattak decided to skip the meeting at the last minute.

Their conspicuous absence from the meeting prompted a summons from PTI Chairman Imran Khan who asked them to visit him in Lahore for an explanation.

“Khan Sahib called both of them in Lahore to attend an important meeting on a possible no-confidence motion against the chief minister,” Fawad Chaudhry said, as he played down the development in a comment to Dawn.

During the meeting which took place in the morning, the PTI did not budge from its demand and asked the speaker to verify the resignations of about 127 MNAs without summoning them in an individual capacity.

How­ever, Speaker Ashraf said resignations of PTI members could only be accepted under the procedure laid down in the Constitution and the Rules of Business of the National Assembly. Mr Ashraf said resignation letters should be handwritten and each lawmaker needed to appear before the speaker in person to satisfy the custodian of the house regarding their resignation.

The speaker said that some of the PTI members whose resignations were received by the NA Secretariat have applied for leave from the house while some members were attending the proceedings of the house.

Mr Ashraf urged the lawmakers to come back to parliament and assured that PTI MNAs would be provided with a platform to raise their concerns.

“Doors are never closed in politics and friendly relations among diverse political parties should be maintained. Parliament is the only forum where politicians can sit together and resolve people’s problems,” the NA speaker added.

‘SC to be moved’

Speaking to media persons after the meeting, PTI leader Asad Qaiser said he asked the speaker to forward the resignations of PTI lawmakers to the Election Commission. According to Mr Qaiser, the Supreme Court had already laid down the procedure in the Javed Hashmi case under which collective resignation could be accepted if lawmakers stand up in the house and announce their resignations.

The PTI leader claimed that none of the PTI MNAs had received their salary and allowances from the NA Secretariat since April this year.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry regretted the speaker’s decision and said that the party would approach the Supreme Court to ensure that its members’ resignations were accepted. “It is a collective decision of the party and mass resignations should be accepted,” he added.

Mr Chaudhry also took an exception to the government’s decision to release the name of PTI MNAs who had expressed reservations over their resignation letters. The PTI leader said all MNAs Talib Nakai, Ghulam Bibi Bharwana and Ghulam Muhammad Lali had released video messages asking the speaker to accept their resignations.

Mansoor Malik in Lahore also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2022