Speaker orders de-sealing of 123 PTI MNAs’ resignations

ISLAMABAD: The newly-elected National Assembly Speaker, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, on Saturday announced de-sealing resignations of 123 Members of the National Assembly from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which were accepted by former acting Speaker Qasim Suri on Friday.

The Speaker directed the National Assembly Secretariat to deal with the matter of resignations as per the previous rulings and rules and present them before him so that action could be taken as per law.

Earlier, JUI-F parliamentary leader Maulana Asad Mahmood and former Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq called upon the Speaker to investigate and review the resignations. Giving technical details of accepting the resignations, Ayaz Sadiq said the National Assembly Secretariat had received cyclostyle resignations whereas those should be handwritten by every member. 

Moreover, he said, every individual should verify their resignation which was not done. He claimed that he had received calls from a number of PTI members who said that they did not want to resign. “The ruling giving by me in this regard was upheld by the Islamabad High Court that was not challenged in the Supreme Court,” he argued.

Asad Mahmood said it had also happened in the past that PTI members resigned, staged a 126-day sit-in in Islamabad and then demanded salaries and allowances for the days. “If it is necessary to hold by-elections on vacant seats, then people of the constituencies should not be deprived of representation,” he said, recalling that Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had also not accepted their resignations. He pointed out that the then PTI members had donated half of their salaries to the Prime Minister Relief Fund, except Imran Khan and another member.

Ayaz Sadiq said that Maulana Fazlur Rehman, MQM members and his own party members had asked him to accept the resignations but he proceeded as per the Constitution and law. “I decided to call the PTI members one by one to verify their resignations. The PTI members had neither resigned nor they wanted to do so,” he recalled.

He said that then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had salvaged the honour of the PTI members and convinced Maulana Fazlur Rehman to withdraw his resolution, which as per rules says that a member not attending proceedings for 40 consecutive days would not remain a member of the House.

Earlier, Presiding Officer Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced the election of Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as Speaker as there was no other candidate against him. He also administered oath to him. Ayaz Sadiq also announced that Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri had resigned on Saturday morning and it had been received by the National Assembly Secretariat.

Greeting the Speaker on assuming his office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif observed that Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, who also remained the Prime Minister of Pakistan, was a seasoned politician. “I am confident that unlike what happened in the last nearly four years, the Speaker will perform his duties while upholding the Constitution and the Parliament,” he said.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto hoped the Speaker following in the footprints of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto would safeguard the Constitution. “Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto accepted Shahadat (martyrdom) but they did not compromise on the supremacy of the Constitution,” he added.

He regretted that the same seat of Speaker had been rendered undignified and the House was made a laughing stock in the world. “We cannot call ourselves patriots unless we defend the Constitution,” he said, adding the first success of the united opposition which was now the united government, was the ouster of a selected Prime Minister.

Bilawal Bhutto noted that it was also a ray of hope that the institutions, which remained controversial in the past, were now moving forward while playing their constitutional role in transition of power. “There is no power on earth which can stop Pakistan from making progress if institutions play their constitutional role instead of a controversial role,” he added.

The PPP chairman also read out a resolution paying homage to the late Bilquis Edhi for her services to the humanity, which was adopted by the House. The resolution also recommended the government to award the highest civil award to her.

Khawaja Muhammad Asif, congratulating the Speaker, hoped he would perform his duties over and above his party affiliations. Meanwhile, PML-Q parliamentarians Chaudhry Salik Hussain and Tariq Bashir Cheema left the National Assembly hall as soon as Khawaja Muhammad Asif condemned the role of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in disrupting the election of the Punjab chief minister. “The way they tortured the deputy speaker and disrupted the election, it has no precedence in the past,” he added. He said that Pervaiz Elahi and Imran Khan had played the worst unconstitutional tactics in the Punjab Assembly. He charged that Pervaiz Elahi had appointed goons of Gujrat as Punjab Assembly staff, saying that the assembly secretariat secretary previously used to be his personal secretary. “We should resolve here that what had happened in the Punjab Assembly was a fascist act,” he added.

Other parliamentarians including Marriyum Aurangzeb, Ghous Bux Mehar, Syed Aminul Haq, Mohsin Dawar, Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, Dr. Ramesh Kumar and others also congratulated the Speaker.

On the request of Marriyum Aurangzeb, the Speaker directed reopening the media corner in the Parliament House for parliamentary reporters and also facilitate them in parliamentary lodges to perform their duties.

Maulana Chitrali of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) pointed out that nobody in the House was naming dictators who had ruled the country for 35 years and later their political children ruled. He said no government could follow injunctions of the Holy Quran and Sunnah as per the Constitution and also failed to abolish the interest-based economic system in the country. He also questioned as to what the PMLN, PPP and PML-Q governments had done for the supremacy of injunctions of the Holy Quran and Sunnah. He also proposed a proportionate electoral system as the only solution to the political crisis being faced by the country. “I suggest we make electoral reforms,” he added.

Dr Ramesh Kumar of the PTI said that political parties should promote democratic culture in their ranks. He pointed out that he had suggested former Prime Minister Imran Khan go ahead with the Pak-Iran gas pipeline project, which was in the interest of the country. He maintained that the economy of a country largely depends on its foreign policy.

Earlier, the House also adopted a resolution moved by PMLN member Shiza Fatima Khawaja, condemning a brutal physical and verbal attack on the Punjab Assembly deputy speaker by PTI and PMLQ members. The House also expressed concern over the security of MPAs and demanded law and order be restored at the earliest.