Photo courtesy National Assembly of Pakistan
National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Monday issued summons to 131 lawmakers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)—as well as 1 of the Awami Muslim League—to verify their resignations individually, and either reject or accept their purported desire to quit their seat.
“Honorable speaker has desired to invite you in his chamber for inquiry regarding voluntary chamber and genuineness of aforesaid resignation letter before its acceptance,” reads the notice sent to the members of the PTI. It has been issued in accordance with Rule 43-2(b) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007, which mandates the speaker to verify that any resignation is “voluntary and genuine” before he accepts it.
The verification process would be undertaken in phases, with the first batch of PTI lawmakers to appear for verification on June 6. The entire process is slated to be completed by June 10, which is also the day the coalition government is set to present to the Lower House its budget for the next fiscal year. According to local media, former speaker Asad Qaiser is among the people slated to appear before the incumbent speaker on the first day of verifications.
The PTI had resigned en masse from the National Assembly on April 11 following the ouster of Imran Khan as Prime Minister of Pakistan. Contrary to the rules and procedures, the majority of the resignations were not handwritten, raising questions over whether they were submitted voluntarily. Local media has also reported that the NA Secretariat had claimed that some of the signatures did not match those on the assembly’s roll, raising further concerns over whether their signatures were forged. In a bid to avoid the scrutiny undertaken by Ashraf, former deputy speaker Qasim Suri had accepted the resignations of 123 PTI MNAs prior to resigning himself.
Debating resignations
Ashraf had announced an intent to verify the PTI lawmakers’ resignations shortly after being elected speaker—but the process had taken nearly two months to commence. His decision comes amidst reports that the PTI is reconsidering the resignations following the abrupt conclusion of the party’s “long march” on Islamabad last week.
PTI leaders Chaudhry Fawad Hussain has rejected these reports, claiming that decision of the PTI’s Core Committee and its senior leadership is solely that new elections should be held and people should have the right to elect their own government. However, in a statement to a private TV channel, he said the matter was still being debated.
To a question on what the PTI’s plan of action would be if some resignations were accepted while others were rejected, the former information minister said the party would take the matter to court. “We all have resigned; everyone’s resignation should be accepted,” he said.