Daily Times

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday denotified 35 more Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) members of the National Assembly (MNAs) following the acceptance of their resignations by NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

According to an ECP notification, the resignations of the PTI lawmakers have been approved from April 11, 2022. The denotified MNAs included Dr Haider Ali Khan, NA-2 Swat-I; Saleem Rehman, NA-3 Swat-II; Sahibzada Sibghatullah, NA-5 Upper Dir; Mehboob Shah, NA-6 Lower Dir-I; Muhammad Bashir Khan, NA-7 Lower Dir-II; Junaid Akbar, NA-8, Malakand Protected Area; Sher Akbar Khan, NA-9 Buner; Ali Khan Jadoon, NA-16 Abbottabad-II; Engr Usman Khan Tarakai, NA-19 Swabi-II; Mujahid Ali, NA-20 Mardan-I; Arbab Amir Ayub, NA-28 Peshawar-II; Sher Ali Arbab.

NA-30 Peshawar-IV; Shahid Ahmed, NA-34 Karak; Gul Dad Khan, NA-40 Bajaur-I; Sajid Khan, NA-42 Mohmand; Mohammad Iqbal Khan, NA-44 Khyber-II; Aamer Mehmood Kiani, NA-61 Rawalpindi-V; Syed Faiz-ul-Hassan,NA-70 Gujrat-III; Ch Shoukat Ali Bhatti, NA-87 Hafizabad-I; Umar Aslam Khan, NA-93 Khushab-I; Amjad Ali Khan, NA-96 Mianwali-II; Khurram Shahzad, NA-107 Faisalabad-VII; Faizullah, NA 109 Faisalabad-IX.

Malik Karamat Ali Khokar, NA-135 Lahore-XIII; Syed Fakhar Imam, NA-150 Khanewal-I; Zahoor Hussain Qureshi,NA-152 Khanewal-III; Muhammad Ibraheem Khan,NA-158 Multan-V; Tahir Iqbal,NA-164 Vehari-III; Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, NA-165 Vehari-IV; Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, NA-177 Rahim Yar Khan-III; Abdul Majeed Khan, NA-187 Layyah-I; Ms Andaleeb Abbas, Reserve Seat (RS) for Women; Ms Asma Hadeed, RS-Women; Ms Maleeka Ali Bokhari, RS-Women and Ms Munawara Bibi Baloch, RS-Women.

Soon after the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s decision to accept the resignations of 35 more Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNAs, party leaders termed the move as “illegal” and “immoral”. Speaking outside the Parliament House, the PTI leaders reiterated the need for early elections in the country. Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, flanked by other PTI senior leaders, condemned the acceptance of the resignations. He said that Ashraf called them to his office and told them that the resignations will not be accepted unless he talks to the MNAs separately. On the occasion, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry berated the speaker’s decision and asked about the PTI MNAs who he [Raja Parveiz Ashraf] had claimed were in touch with him regarding their resignations. Chaudhry said that about 81 resignations have been accepted, demanding a date for the upcoming general elections.

Expressing his displeasure over the decision, the PTI leader blamed the current government for the political and economic crisis. “We are heading towards a Sri Lanka-like situation,” he said. Moreover, PTI leader Asad Umar said that the speaker’s move proved that he is not a custodian of the house, adding that the MNAs went to the assembly only to find that the whole staff is unavailable including the speaker, deputy speaker, secretary and deputy secretary. PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the speaker first said that he cannot accept the resignations collectively. “We decided to come to the meeting and he [the speaker] postponed it and when we came to the assembly, he accepted the resignations of 35 more MNAs,” said Qureshi, demanding that the rest of the resignations should also be accepted. The party’s vice chairman said that the PTI wants snap polls so that the people can decide for themselves.