Daily Times

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry Tuesday said the National Assembly speaker had no authority to verify resignations of lawmakers as the PTI considered the current assembly as what he called occupied. Talking to the media persons in Islamabad, he said the Election Commission was not de-notifying the PTI MNAs who had submitted their resignations. “Don’t push us against the wall. We are the largest political party of this country,” he added. His statement comes a day after National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf summoned 131 lawmakers of the former ruling party, who resigned from their assembly seats, to verify if their resignations were genuine and voluntary. The speaker’s direction came days after former deputy speaker Qasim Khan Suri’s ruling through which he had accepted the resignations of the PTI lawmakers after they resigned en masse from the assembly in protest over alleged “foreign interference” which ousted ex-prime minister Imran Khan, says a news report. Fawad said the incumbent assembly did not have any legitimacy and termed the lower house of parliament “occupied”. “We don’t have any intention to return to the assembly.” “President of lota [turncoat] association has been appointed as Leader of the Opposition and all appointments are being made with his consultation. We don’t accept this,” Fawad said referring to Raja Riaz.

Speaking about his party’s ‘foreign conspiracy’ allegations, Fawad asked the Supreme Court as to why it was reluctant to form an inquiry commission to probe the diplomatic cypher allegedly containing evidence of US-backed regime change plot. “We want to know why Supreme Court is not holding inquiry into this [cypher] on the request of president which is the highest constitutional office of the country,” he added. Fawad also accused the incumbent rulers of allowing the Pakistani delegation to visit Israel, saying “Delhi-Tel Aviv-Washington nexus is targeting Pakistan”.

“This government is trying to establish ties with Israel,” he alleged. Fawad also lashed out at the government for the ‘thuggery’ against PTI protesters leading up to and during its May 25 Azadi March. He maintained that the party was compiling a video of the brutality and would raise the issue at the international level. “We are also filing criminal complaints in Pakistan,” he said, adding that such violence was not even carried out in dictatorships. Fawad said that the videos would then be sent to international human rights commissions.

He also took exception to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah’s press conference earlier in the day saying: “If you close your eyes and listen to him, it seems as though Altaf Hussain is speaking.” He alleged that the government fired at unarmed protesters, including women, and was now trying to manipulate the narrative. He maintained that the PTI allowed political parties to stage protests during their tenure, adding that Imran directed authorities to provide the protesters with facilities. He also questioned why the Supreme Court was not constituting a commission to probe the “regime change conspiracy”, noting that President Dr Arif Alvi had also written to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial in this regard. “Why is it not being probed?” he asked.

He said the PTI will be filing a case of human rights violations against the federal government for “using force on unarmed marchers” during Azadi March on May 25. Meanwhile, party leader Farrukh Habib reiterated that PTI lawmakers had resigned from the lower house of parliament. “At the time, Qasim Suri had issued a notification accepting the resignations,” he said. “There is no need for further action,” Habib said, alleging that the resignations were illegally being postponed.