Daily Times

National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf Wednesday declared that members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who have resigned, would not be allowed to participate in National Assembly proceedings, following consultation with constitutional experts. The Election Commission’s notification regarding the resignations of PTI members has been suspended by the Sindh High Court, as confirmed by the National Assembly spokesperson. However, the spokesperson also clarified that the Sindh High Court had not yet made a decision regarding the Speaker’s ruling on the eligibility of the resigned PTI members to participate in National Assembly proceedings. The NA spokesperson stated that, in accordance with the rules of the National Assembly, resigned members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were now
considered out of the National Assembly and were not allowed to enter the House.

Similarly, the rules also prohibit the entry of strangers into the National Assembly. Meanwhile, PTI members of National Assembly from Karachi staged protest over the speaker’s ruling outside the Parliament House. Police forcibly prevented nine PTI MNAs from Karachi from entering the building, leading to scuffles between the law enforcement officials and the PTI parliamentarians.

The lawmakers claimed to have a court order allowing their entry into parliament, but were denied access. In response, the PTI MNAs staged a sit-in protest in front of the NA building and vowed to continue their protest until they are allowed to attend the session.