MONDAY APRIL 06: Joint session on the Yemen crisis today: PTI ends parliament boycott

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Sunday announced that his party lawmakers would return to Assemblies after over seven-month-long boycott, as the government has accepted his demand to constitute a judicial commission to probe into the alleged rigging in 2013 general elections.
"Since the government is going to set up a judicial commission to probe into the alleged irregularities in 2013 general elections, we've decided to go back to the National Assembly," Imran told reporters outside his Bani Gala residence after a meeting of his party's Core Committee.
The PTI chairman, who used to term the current parliament as 'fraudulent', said that he along with his party MNAs had decided to attend the joint-sitting of the Parliament to be held on Monday (today) to take stock of Yemen crisis.
"The Yemen issue is very important [and] I'll attend the joint sitting and will present my party's point of view," Khan announced in presence of his party's beleaguered MNAs, as a good number of them were reportedly upset over his decision to quit the assemblies last year.
The PTI MNAs had resigned from the National Assembly as well as provincial assemblies of Sindh and Punjab in August last year during an anti-government sit-in against the alleged rigging in May 2013 general elections won by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
However, the PTI lawmakers' resignations were not accepted by the Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and the Speaker Provincial Assembly of Punjab, while his party MPAs resignations were accepted by the Speaker Sindh Assembly.
With the PTI out of the National Assembly, Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq was under pressure to end the impasse swiftly and amicably.
Sadiq was in a quagmire to take a decision on the PTI resignations and requests to delay their acceptance, so that a political solution could be negotiated.
Ultimately, the speaker maintained that unless he could personally verify each member's resignations - as stipulated in Rule 43(2) B of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of the National Assembly, 2007 - he would not proceed with the resignations of the PTI MNAs.
Later, Sadiq informed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that he was unable to confirm the 'authenticity' of the resignations submitted by lawmakers belonging to the PTI.
"I am directed to further inform you that in spite of our consistent efforts, the members of the PTI whose resignations were received in this secretariat have avoided to come forward to verify the genuineness and voluntary nature of their resignations," said a letter sent by the speaker to the ECP in October last year.
The PTI had demanded resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and audit of the election during its four-month sit-in in Islamabad. The party had alleged its mandate was stolen.
Imran harked back to the reasons behind his call for PTI MNAs resignations. "Why did we march from Lahore on August 14?" he asked, referring to his protracted anti-government campaign launched last year in August to demand an investigation into the alleged election fraud.
"Now the decision to constitute the judicial commission has been made," he said. He also explained that the CEC members debated whether the party should wait to join the assemblies until the commission was actually formed, as opposed to the current status of the promulgation of the ordinance.
Presenting his party's view point on the issue, Imran Khan said Pakistan should not involve itself in Yemen-Saudi conflict as it had already suffered a lot by indulging in the Soviet war and in the past.
The joint session of the parliament will be held on Monday to discuss the ongoing situation of Yemen conflict and the policy of the government in response to Saudi's demands in this regard.
The PTI and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) are the main opposition political parties and it anticipated that the government would adopt a stance on the issue acceptable to the opposition.
"Pakistan is already paying the price for its involvement in someone else's war. For the protection of holy places (Mecca and Medina) every Muslim is ready to sacrifice his life but in this conflict both sides are Muslims and Pakistan should refrain from joining any side," Imran said.
He said that Nawaz-led government had not yet announced a clear stance on the issue. "We'd like to hear the government on Monday during the joint-sitting of the parliament, besides adopting a categorical stance on the [Yemen] issue," he added.
The PTI chairman said that although there had been pressure from Saudi Arabia to join hands with them against Yemen rebels, Pakistan must not jump into the conflict under pressure from some quarters. He said that the joint session on Yemen - which the President has summoned for Monday to discuss Pakistan's role in the Middle East crisis, was a major factor behind the decision to re-join Parliament.
The government and opposition PPP have welcomed the PTI's decision to return to the parliament.