Election Commission of Pakistan de-notifies 35 more PTI MNAs after their resignations were accepted NA Speaker


ISLAMABAD, Jan 20 (SABAH): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday de-notified 35 more Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Members of National Assembly after their resignations were accepted by National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

The notification issued by the ECP says:

No.F8(3)/2023-Cord,-Consequent upon the acceptance of resignations by the Hon’ble Speaker, National Assembly of Pakistan and in pursuance of the Notifications No F-21(4)/2022 Legis dated 20th January, 2023 of National Assembly of Pakistan, the Election Commission of Pakistan hereby de-notifies the following Members of National Assembly of Pakistan with immediate effect:-

Here’s the list of PTI lawmakers whose resignations have been accepted:

S.No  Name        Constituency

01     Dr Haider Ali Khan

NA-2

02     Saleem Rehman

NA-3

03     Sahibzada Sibghatullah

NA-5

04     Mehboob Shah

NA-6

05     Muhammad Bashir Khan

NA-7

06     Junaid Akbar

NA-8

07     Sher Akbar Khan

NA-9

08     Ali Khan Jadoon

NA-16

09     Engineer Usman Khan Tarakai

NA-19

10     Mujahid Ali

NA-20

11     Arbab Amir Ayub

NA-28

12     Sher Ali Arbab

NA-30

13     Shahid Ahmed Khattak

NA-34

14     Gul Dad Khan

NA-40

15     Sajid Khan

NA-42

16     Mohammad Iqbal Khan

NA-44

17     Aamer Mehmood Kiani

NA-61

18     Syed Faiz ul Hassan

NA-70

19     Chaudhry Shoukat Ali Bhatti

NA-87

20     Umar Aslam Khan

NA-93

21     Amjad Ali Khan

NA-96

22     Khurram Shahzad

NA-107

23     Faizullah Kamoka

NA-109

24     Malik Karamat Ali Khokhar

NA-135

25     Syed Fakhar Imam

NA-150

26     Zahoor Hussain Qureshi

NA-152

27     Ibraheem Khan

NA-158

28     Tahir Iqbal

NA-164

29     Aurangzeb Khan Khichi

NA-165

30     Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar

NA-177

31     Abdul Majeed Khan

NA-187

32     Ms. Andaleeb Abbas

Reserved seat from Punjab

33    Ms. Asma Qadeer

Reserved seat from Punjab

34     Ms. Maleeka Ali Bokhari

Reserved seat from Punjab

35     Ms. Munawara Bibi Baloch

Reserved seat from Balochistan

The notification has been issued by Deputy Director (Cord) Muhammad Nasir Khan on Friday. The notification has been issued by the order of the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Earlier on Friday National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf accepted the resignations of 35 more Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNAs.

The PTI had resigned from the lower house of parliament after the ouster of PTI chief Imran Khan in April 2022.

According to a press release issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, the resignations were accepted in accordance with clause (1) of Article 64 of the Constitution and rules of procedure and conduct of Business in the NA.

“In accordance with clause (1) of Article 64 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, read with Rule 43 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly of Pakistan 2007, the Hon’ble Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan has been pleased to accept the resignations of the following Members of the National Assembly with effect from April 11, 2022, the date when the letter of respective resignations was submitted,” said the statement.

The resignations have been accepted with effect from 11 April, 2022, the date when the letters of respective resignations were submitted.

Meanwhile speaking to the media outside the Parliament House, senior PTI leaders said the speaker retracted from his old stance by accepting the resignations of 35 more PTI lawmakers on Friday.

Former speaker NA Asad Qaiser, Asad Umar, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry and others termed the government’s move “illegal and immoral”.

Asad Qaiser condemned the decision and revealed that Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had called the PTI leaders to the assembly and told them that the resignations would not be accepted unless he had a word with the MNAs himself separately.

“Were those whose resignations were accepted called by the Speaker?”Qaiser asked.

Berating the speaker’s decision, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said now that 81 resignations were accepted, the government must also give a date for the general elections.

Expressing his displeasure over the decision, the PTI leader blamed Islamabad for the political and economic crises in the country. “We are heading towards a Sri Lanka-like situation,” Fawad Chaudhry claimed.

Fawad Chaudhry said Pakistan was facing an economic and political crisis because of “incompetent rulers imposed on us”.

He said the sitting government just represents 36 per cent of the country, adding that decisions taken in “closed-door meetings” had thrown Pakistan into the current crisis.

“All of our MNAs are outside the National Assembly and we want our resignations accepted.”He reiterated his party’s demand for early elections, saying the nation would not forgive institutions if remedial measures were not taken immediately.

PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the speaker first said that he cannot accept the resignations collectively.

“We decided to come to the meeting and he [the speaker] postponed it and when we came to the assembly, he accepted the resignations of 35 more MNAs,” said Qureshi, demanding that the rest of the resignations should also be accepted.

The party’s vice chairman said that the PTI wants snap polls so that the people can decide for themselves.

Qureshi called out the government for what he said was ignoring the plight of the people, alleging it would try to hold on to power until all [graft] cases against their leaders were quashed. He demanded the speaker accept all remaining resignations to end the crisis. Qureshi said elections were the only way out of the prevailing situation.