Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Following the removal of former prime minister Imran Khan from power through a no-confidence motion, senior PTI leader and former minister for information and broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry announced Sunday that his party members would resign from the National Assembly tomorrow (Monday) if the nomination of PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif is accepted.

Speaking to journalists on Sunday alongside former energy minister Hammad Azhar and former state minister for information Farrukh Habib, Fawad said that PTI chief Imran Khan chaired a meeting of the party’s core committee in Bani Gala where he reiterated that his ouster was part of a regime-change operation back by foreign powers.

“When decisions related to a country’s internal affairs are made from outside, it’s the biggest sign of its slavery.”

The ex-information minister said that his party had sent all declassified documents to the speaker of the NA as well as the chief justice of Pakistan.

He said that the PTI has nominated former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi as the candidate for the prime minister’s slot.

“We have chosen Qureshi for the prime minister’s slot because firstly, we want to challenge Shahbaz Sharif’s nomination because he has a corruption case of Rs16 billion registered against him.”

He expressed his regret and said it would be unfortunate to impose a “foreign, selected, and imported government and on top of that, make Shahbaz Sharif the head of the government.

He informed journalists that during the meeting, the party’s core committee said that all PTI members should resign from the assemblies.

“We will start off by resigning from the National Assembly,” he said. “And if Shahbaz Sharif’s nomination papers are accepted, then we will tender our resignations tomorrow.”

Shortly afterwards, however, the NA Secretariat rejected PTI’s objections and went ahead to accept Shahbaz’s nomination.

He further said that a parliamentary party meeting has also been called tonight, adding that most of the PTI members from the assemblies have already submitted their resignation to the party chairman.

Fawad said that all PTI supporters will continue their protests against the alleged foreign conspiracy against Imran Khan. He went on to say that within the next few months, the party will start gearing up for the elections.

While Fawad maintained that the majority of PTI members have already tendered their resignations to the PTI chief, sources privy to the matter told Geo News that the majority of the members are not in favour of resigning from the assembly but Sheikh Rasheed and Fawad Chaudhry are actively trying to push the party out of the political arena.

Members are of the view that if this happens, then the PTI, as a political party will “suffer irreparable damage.” On the other hand, sources say that today’s meeting of the PTI parliamentary party has been postponed.

On Saturday, April 10, Imran Khan was ousted as the prime minister of Pakistan from office through a no-confidence motion.

The session was chaired by Ayaz Sadiq — a member of the panel of chairs — after speaker Asad Qasier resigned from his post.

“174 members have recorded their votes in favour of the resolution, consequently the resolution for the vote on no-confidence against Mr Imran Khan, the prime minister of Pakistan, has been passed by a majority,” Ayaz Sadiq announced after the process of voting was completed. Once the voting was concluded and the result was announced, Opposition leaders delivered their victory speeches. The session then was adjourned till 11am on Monday, April 11.