Another move on political chessboard: NA Speaker accepts resignations of 34 PTI MNAs, AML chief

ISLAMABAD: In another major development in ongoing power politics, the National Assembly (NA) Speaker, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, on Tuesday approved the resignations of 34 PTI Members of the National Assembly besides Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad. Immediately, following the acceptance of the resignations, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-notified them.

The top leaders of the PTI were among those 35 MNAs whose resignations were accepted by the NA Speaker.

Those who were de-notified by the ECP include Omar Ayub Khan, Murad Saeed, former speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar, former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, former deputy speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri, former defence minister Pervaiz Khattak, Imran Khattak, Shehryar Afridi, Ali Amin Khan, Noorul Haq Qadri, Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, Ali Nawaz Khan, Asad Umar, Sadaqat Ali Khan, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Mansoor Hayat Khan, Fawad Ahmed, Sanaullah Khan, Hammad Azhar, Mehmood Khan, Aamir Dogar, Zartaj Gul, Faheem Khan, Saifur Rehman, Alamgir Khan, Ali Haider Zaidi, Aftab Hussain Siddiqui, Attaullah, Aftab Jahangir, Aslam Khan, Najeeb Haroon and from women reserved seat Alia Hamza Malik and Kanwal Shauzab.

Eight MNAs whose resignations were accepted were from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — Murad Saeed, Omar Ayub Khan, Asad Qaisar, Pervaiz Khattak, Imran Khattak, Sheharyar Afridi, Ali Amin Khan and Noorul Haq Qadri.

From Islamabad constituencies, the resignations of Raja Khurram Nawaz, Asad Umar and Ali Nawaz Awan were accepted. From the constituencies of Rawalpindi Division, resignations of Sadaqat Ali Khan, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Sheikh Rashid Shafique, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Mansoor Hayat Khan were accepted. From Jehlum, the resignation of Fawad Chaudhry was also accepted.

From Bhakkar, the resignation of Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel has been accepted.

The resignations of two MNAs from Lahore Hammad Azhar and Shafqat Mehmood were accepted. The resignations of Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Malik Aamir Dogar from Multan have been approved. The resignation of Zartaj Gul from Dera Ghazi Khan was accepted.

The resignations of nine MNAs of PTI from Karachi were accepted. They include Faheem Khan, Saifur Rehman, Alamgir Khan, Ali Zaidi, Aftab Hussain Siddique, Attaullah, Aftab Jahangir, Muhammad Aslam and Muhammad Najeeb Haroon. From Quetta, the resignation of Qasim Suri was also accepted by the NA speaker.

While the resignations of Aliya Hamza Malik and Kanwal Shauzeb Khan from women reserved seats were also accepted.

It may be mentioned here that the NA speaker had already accepted the resignations of 11 members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on July 8, 2022.

Reacting to the coalition government’s move, PTI Senior Vice-President Fawad Chaudhry thanked NA Speaker Pervaiz Ashraf for accepting the resignations of his party’s lawmakers, reported Geo News. Fawad hoped that the Chief Justice of Pakistan would decide his party’s pending cases in this regard soon.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) senior leader and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday said his party would not contest the by-elections on the 35 National Assembly seats that fell vacant as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-notified the lawmakers after Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf accepted their resignations earlier Tuesday.

Speaking in the Geo News programme Capital Talk, Sanaullah asked who would contest the elections for a span of “only two or three months”.

He reiterated that the government would complete its constitutional term that would end in August 2023. The minister said the speaker took the decision as the PTI lawmakers did not appear before him in person despite being invited multiple times for verification of their resignations.

On a query, the minister said that postponement of elections in Punjab was not out of the question but they should prepare for the polls.

Reacting to the development, Pakistan Democratic Movement President and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam–Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the ruling alliance would not contest the by-polls on the vacant seats. Reasons for not contesting the election will also be unveiled soon, he added. Also, PTI’s senior leader Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said in a tweet on Thursday that PTI will contest on all the 34 seats vacated after the approval of resignations by the National Assembly speaker. He added the PTI chief Imran Khan will contest election on all those seats.