Will invite PTI MNAs for verification of resignations: NA Speaker

National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said Thursday that he will once again invite Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers, who had submitted their resignation from the National Assembly for verification, Aaj News reported.

PTI MNAs had submitted their resignation letters on April 11 in protest of the new prime minister of an “imported government” being elected following PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s ouster two days earlier.

Last week, National Assembly Speaker said that he will not accept the resignations of any of the PTI lawmakers unless he was convinced they were not given under any political pressure.

While speaking to the media in Lahore, he said: “The law dictates that even if a member says in my presence they want to resign but I have information that they are under pressure, I should not accept their resignation.”

The National Assembly Speaker alleged that even after the announcement of mass resignations, PTI lawmakers continued to avail perks given to MNAs, claiming that they also send him messages not to accept their resignations.

For weeks, PTI’s leadership has urged National Assembly Speaker to accept the resignations of their legislators.

Earlier this month, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi wrote a letter to the NA Speaker, seeking time for verification of 123 resignations of the PTI lawmakers.

He accused the Speaker of opting for ‘unconstitutional measures’ by only accepting selective resignations of the PTI MNAs; “123 of our lawmakers resigned en masse, but their resignations were accepted selectively”. This is against the constitution, he added.

“Despite that, people gave the mandate to Khan during the by-election as PTI defeated the multi-party ruling alliance after winning most of the seats. They used our resignations to fulfil their political aims, but we still won 75 percent of the by-elections,” he said.

The vice-chairman said he was also writing to the speaker for deciding a date for accepting PTI’s resignations. “He can either accept our resignations all at once or he can call us individually for the verification,” he added.

To a question, he said the government was not serious to hold talks on elections; “it has clearly stated that it will not hold early elections”. “They were delaying the elections to complete their agenda of closing their corruption cases; some have been closed and the rest were in the pipeline. They also fear that they will lose the elections,” he added.

He averred that President Arif Alvi with honest intention tried to bridge the gap between the government and the PTI, “but in my opinion, the response from the government disappointed him”.

Assemblies should complete their terms: NA speaker

Earlier, the Speaker of the National Assembly said that for the sake of political and economic stability in the country all its assemblies should complete their terms.

Describing recent meetings between President Dr Arif Alvi and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as “positive developments”, he said that such contacts are a prerequisite to promoting political stability.

While expressing the hope that the situation would improve soon, Pervaiz Ashraf admitted that the economy is under pressure. He stressed the need for political stability for bringing about economic stability.

Saying that national development is possible only by following the Constitution, the speaker said no country can make progress in a situation of uncertainty.

He was of the opinion that the politics of accusations should end now and all political parties should sit together to find solutions to the challenges confronting the country.