ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf accepted the resignations of 43 more members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf in the lower house, sources told JEE News on Tuesday.
Officials in the Speaker’s office said on condition of anonymity that Ashraf had accepted the resignations a few days ago and had sent his summary to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The approval means that now only defecting PTI legislators are left in the National Assembly.
Interestingly, the acceptance of the resignations came a day after 45 PTI MNAs sought a meeting with the Speaker to withdraw the resignations.
Reacting to the development, senior PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said that the main reason for the low return to the assembly was the removal of Raja Riaz from the post of opposition leader as the legislature was of no importance.
Fawad tweeted that currently Shahbaz Sharif has lost the support of 172 members and is depending on loot to save his government.
راجہ ریاض کو بچانے کیلئے اسپیکر کے اقدامات کے نتیجے میں اس وقت 40فیصد نشستیں خالی ہو چکی ہیں، ملک انتخابات کے مزید قریب آگیا ہے، اس بحران کا واحد حل قومی انتخابات ہیں حکومت کتنا عرصہ عوام سے کترائے گی آخر فیصلہ لوگوں نے کرنا ہے اور فیصلہ ووٹ سے ہو گا
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) January 24, 2023
He further said that as a result of the Speaker’s actions to save Raja Riaz, 40 percent seats are now vacant.
The country is now close to elections. General elections are the only solution to this problem,” Fawad said.
PTI requested Election Commission not to de-notify MNAs.
On Monday, the PTI legislators requested the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) not to de-notify them if Speaker Ashraf accepts their resignations.
The PTI made the request after it told the election body that its MNAs were withdrawing their resignations and the Speaker of the National Assembly had been informed about it.
The MNAs submitted the petition in a meeting with the Election Commission members after their protest outside the Election Commission building. He moved to the ECP after the authorities barred him from entering Parliament.
