Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNAs on Monday staged a sit-in outside National Assembly Speaker pervez Ashraf ‘s official residence as the lawmakers demanded to meet the custodian of the house or secretary regarding their resignations.
The lawmakers moved towards the speaker’s residence after they were barred from entering the Parliament House.
PTI leader Malik Aamir Dogar demanded that the MNAs wanted to meet the NA speaker or the secretary regarding the resignations.
“About 45 MPs came to the office of the NA speaker,” he added. He said that the senate’s meeting was postponed today, adding that the lawmakers will go to the speaker’s residence to meet his staff.
PTI MNA Lal Chand Malhi said that Khan has decided that the resignations should be retracted.
Earlier today, more than 40 PTI lawmakers decided to withdraw their resignations from the National Assembly on the instructions of party chief Imran Khan.
The announcement was made by PTI Secretary-General Asad Umar, on Twitter. He said that the remaining 44 MNAs of the party, whose resignations are yet to be accepted, have decided to take back their decision of leaving the assembly.
“An email has been sent to the speaker,” said the PTI leader. He also shared the names of the MNAs that have withdrawn their resignations.
Meanwhile, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said that 45 lawmakers have decided to take back their resignations so that the party can take the posts of the leader of the opposition and parliamentary party leader.
Chaudhry said that the PTI decided to take back the resignations so they could get rid of the “fake” opposition leader and to prevent the “lotay (turncoats)” from voting in favour of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the vote of confidence.
Interestingly, the number of lawmakers mentioned by Umar and Chaudhry differed from each other. The former mentioned names of 44 MNAs while the latter said that 45 lawmakers have retracted their resignations.
The development came after National Assembly Speaker Pervez Ashraf, last week, accepted the resignatins of 70 MNAs.
The speaker first accepted 34 resignations on January 17 and then 35 more three days later.
The Election Commission of Pakistan had immediately de-notified the MNAs after the speaker sent their resignations.
Last year in July, NA Speaker Raja Parveiz Ashraf accepted the resignations of 11 PTI lawmakers.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan contested on eight of those seats when by-elections were held in October and won from seven of those constituencies that went to poll.
The resignations
The PTI lawmakers had tendered their resignations en masse after the Imran Khan-led government was ousted via a no-confidence motion in April of last year.
The PTI had claimed resignations were accepted by former deputy speaker Qasim Suri in absence of the speaker after Asad Qaiser’s resignation.
Speaker Ashraf had stalled the process of accepting resignations stating the remaining lawmakers would be summoned individually for verification.
However, contrary to his claims he quickened the process once PTI, earlier this month, announced its return to the assembly and test the PM through a no-trust move.
