ISLAMABAD: After a meeting with the delegation of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on the issue of resignations by the party’s MNAs, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Thursday told the media that he had asked the PTI delegation to return to the National Assembly.
“According to the law, the resignation must be handwritten. It is the Speaker’s responsibility to confirm the resignation of an MNA. It is the Speaker’s responsibility to confirm that there is no pressure from anyone for the resignation,” he stated.
“The PTI delegation was of the opinion that the resignations of 127 MNAs should be accepted. [But] the resignations will be accepted according to the Constitution and the rules and regulations of the National Assembly,” he added.
“The PTI has been asked to return to the National Assembly. They have been asked to solve in the Parliament whatever the problems are,” he maintained. “The resignations of only those MNAs have been accepted whose resignations were confirmed earlier. All [MNAs] are equal to me as Speaker,” he asserted.
“In the current situation, there is a need to create such an environment that will reduce differences in Pakistan. It is clearly written in the Constitution that the resignation should be written by hand,” he added. “It is not possible to solve problems without a dialogue. Reconciliation is the need of the hour,” he emphasized.
It was also learnt that Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had assured the PTI delegation of full support if they returned to the Parliament. “We cannot return to the Parliament,” was the reply of the PTI delegation. They told him that Imran Khan wanted resignations. “Therefore, we cannot come back to the Parliament.”
The National Assembly speaker told them that the Parliament was a place of discussion. “Come to the Parliament and present your case.” The PTI delegation replied that Imran Khan would become angry if they returned to the Parliament.
Earlier, a PTI delegation had arrived at the Parliament House to hold a discussion with National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on the issue of resignations by the party’s MNAs. The senior PTI leaders – Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pervez Khattak – had apologized to become part of the delegation. As per the PTI sources, Pervez Khattak did not want a discussion with the National Assembly speaker on the issue of resignations by the party’s MNAs. The sources said that there were differences in the party on the issue of resignations.
Both, Qureshi and Khattak, had informed the party about not going with the delegation in the last hours. It is to be noted here that Qureshi has also hinted at returning to the Parliament. In the absence of Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Qaiser led the PTI delegation that, upon its arrival at the Parliament House, was welcomed by the National Assembly speaker. Qasim Khan Suri, Malik Aamir Dogar, Amjad Khan Niazi, Faheem Khan, Dr Shabbir Hasan and others were part of the PTI delegation.
