Incumbent NA speaker did not have authority to review resignations of PTI members: Fawad Chaudhry 

ISLAMABAD, May 31 (SABAH): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former minister for information and broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said on Tuesday that the party did not have any intention of returning to the National Assembly, asserting that the incumbent speaker did not have the authority to review the resignations of party members after they had been accepted by the previous speaker.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad alongside former minister for energy Barrister Muhammad Hammad Azhar, Fawad Chaudhry said that the party considered parliament to be “occupied”. “They have taken possession of the assembly and we don’t have any intention of returning.

“We are of the opinion that the NA speaker has accepted the resignations of our lawmakers and this speaker does not have the authority to review [the decision].”

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 Chaudhry 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 from earlier on Tuesday, 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.

Fawad Chaudhry said that a petition will be filed in the Supreme Court regarding long march today (Wednesday).

Meanwhile, PTI 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.