Opposition alleges Imran Khan taking MNAs resignations forcefully

ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Imran Khan was "forcefully" taking resignations from his part's lawmakers in the National Assembly, PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq said Wednesday.

The PTI on the day Shehbaz Sharif was elected as the prime minister had boycotted the session and announced to resign from the lower house of the parliament en mass, with the party's vice chairman, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, saying they would not accept the "installed government".

But in a press conference alongside PPP and JUI-F leaders, the former speaker said Khan was forcefully asking lawmakers to resign and submitting their resignations to Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri.

"In line with the law, every member should appear in person and submit their resignation to the speaker [...] there are some conditions and questions that are noted before the acceptance of the resignation," the MNA said.

Sadiq claimed the PTI members were pressurised into signing cyclostyle documents, which included their names and constituency.

"It is clearly stated in the rules that a lawmakers resignation should be handwritten."

Moving on, he said he had personal issues with the PTI chairman as he had beaten him two times in elections. Sadiq added that after Khan had challenged his election in 2015, he had won and retained the seat in the by-election.

"...and the no-confidence motion against Khan was also completed through me," the ex-speaker, who chaired the session for the voting on the no-confidence motion, said.

'Politics of dividing will not work anymore'

For her part, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said the deputy speaker was pressurising the National Assembly secretariat on the issue of the resignations.

"The deputy speaker is violating the laws [...] Suri had said that he identified the members based on their signatures, but according to the rules, every member should be present in person for submitting their resignations," Rehman said.

The PPP senator said several PTI lawmakers were contacting the Opposition parties to express their reservations over Imran Khan's policy of taking resignations forcefully.

Lashing out at the PTI for not following the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court's orders, Rehman urged the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) to take notice of the party's action.

"This politics of burning property down and dividing will not work anymore," she added.