En masse resignations: No breakthrough in PTI meeting with NA speaker

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf has rejected the PTI demand for en masse acceptance of its MNAs’ resignations while sticking to his position that every member has to come individually with a hand-written resignation for verification as per rules of the National Assembly.

In a meeting with a PTI delegation led by former NA speaker Asad Qaiser at the Parliament House on Thursday and comprising former NA deputy speaker Qasim Khan Suri, PTI chief whip Malik Amir Dogar, Attaullah Khan, Amjad Khan Niazi, Niaz Ahmad Jakhar, Dr Shabbir Hussain Qureshi, Faheem Khan, Lal Chan Malahi and Tahir Iqbal, Raja Pervez Ashraf said the resignations of PTI MNAs could only be accepted under the procedure laid down in the Constitution and Rules of Business of the National Assembly. Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pervez Khattak did not attend the meeting.

Ashraf said there was always space for dialogue and political reconciliation and political consensus was the key to overcoming the challenges being faced by the country at present. Answering the PTI delegation’s questions, he said the resignations accepted by Qasim Suri were unconstitutional and illegal. “There is the question of mandate of eight lakh people given to each member. How can the resignations of all the members accepted at the request of one of them?”

Talking to the media after the meeting, Ashraf said he had suggested that the PTI MNAs return to the House and play their constitutional role. Doors were never closed in politics and friendly relations among diverse political parties should be maintained.

Referring to a case of Islamabad High Court PLD 2014, he said the office of NA speaker was not just a post office. He referred to Article 64 of the Constitution and Rule 43 of the Rules of Business of the National Assembly, which clearly described the procedure for confirming resignations.

Ashraf said some PTI members whose resignations were received by the NA Secretariat had applied for leave from the House and some attended the House. An MNA from Karachi, whose resignation was accepted, went to the Islamabad High Court and gave an affidavit that he did not resign.

Talking to newsmen after the meeting, Asad Qaisar demanded immediate elections in the country and asked the speaker to approve en masse resignations submitted by the PTI MNAs. He said that in the case of Javed Hashmi, the court had said whoever resigned on the floor, his resignation would be accepted. In response to a question, he said that returning to the assembly “is not among our options and we have to continue our struggle for immediate elections anyway.”

Qasim Suri said he had accepted the resignations of 127 PTI members. He said Ashraf claimed that the resignations of 11 PTI members were confirmed through tweets and newspapers. “All 127 of our members have gone to their constituencies and confirmed their resignations through speeches and tweets, we demand that the resignations be accepted immediately,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has summoned senior party leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Pervez Khattak for skipping the meeting with National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf regarding the verification of their resignations, sources told Geo News on Thursday.

Khattak and Qureshi were part of the delegation sent by PTI to meet the NA speaker today. However, sources within the party shared that both leaders excused themselves from attending the meeting at the last minute.

In their absence, former speaker Asad Qaiser led the delegation in the meeting. Now both the leaders will meet the PTI chairman at his Lahore residence in Zaman Park to explain their position on the matter.