National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Tuesday accepted the resignations of another 35 MNAs—34 from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and 1 from Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed—less than a week after Imran Khan had hinted at returning to Parliament to further pressure the ruling coalition toward early elections.
Last week, while speaking with journalists, Khan had hinted at returning to the National Assembly, saying it was necessary for discussions on an interim setup prior to general elections. He had also claimed that his party had the support of several MNAs of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), adding that his plans would cause “sleepless nights” for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. On Tuesday evening, prior to the acceptance of the resignations, PTI Senior Vice President Chaudhry Fawad Hussain had said that the returning PTI MNAs would also demand the slots of the leader of the opposition; chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee; and their own parliamentary leader.
However, within minutes of this announcement, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-notified the MNAs, with Special Assistant to the P.M. Attaullah Tarar tweeting out the news by declaring “SURPRISE.” The decision was definitely a “surprise” for the PTI, which had been ramping up efforts to return to the National Assembly even as it dissolved the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It was also relying on earlier statements by Ashraf, who had claimed he could only accept resignations if they had been personally verified by each of the 131 lawmakers who resigned en masse when Khan was ousted as prime minister in April 2022.
The PTI still has 85 MNAs in the National Assembly, and the party has claimed they will still return to Parliament to retake the slot of leader of the opposition. Speaking with media on Tuesday night, Qureshi demanded that the speaker accept all the resignations, describing the “selective acceptance” as “dishonest.” Referring to the lack of personal verification, as earlier required by the speaker, he claimed the ruling coalition was now “acting out of fear.”
PTI leader Fawad, meanwhile, thanked the speaker for accepting his resignation but said until all pending resignations were also accepted, the party deserved the slots of opposition leader and Public Accounts Committee chairperson. Separately, Asad Umar said that the party intended to field Imran Khan on all 33 vacated seats in by-elections.
Accepted resignations
Among the resignations accepted by the speaker are PTI leaders Asad Umar (NA-54), Pervaiz Khattak (NA-25), Chaudhry Fawad Hussain (NA-67), Shah Mahmood Qureshi (NA-156), and Hammad Azhar (NA-126). The ECP has also de-notified Murad Saeed (NA-4), Omar Ayub Khan (NA-17), Asad Qaiser (NA-18), Imran Khattak (NA-26), Sheharyar Afridi (NA-32), Ali Amin Gandapur (NA-38), Noorul Haq Qadri (NA-43), Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz (NA-52), Ali Nawaz Awan (NA-53), Sadaqat Ali Khan (NA-57), Ghulam Sarwar Khan (NA-59), Sheikh Rashid Shafique (NA-60), Mansoor Hayat Khan (NA-63), Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel (NA-97), Shafqat Mahmood (NA-126), Malik Muhammad Amir Dogar (NA-155), Zartaj Gul (NA-191), Faheem Khan (NA-241), Saifur Rehman (NA-242), Alamgir Khan (NA-243), Ali Haider Zaidi (NA-244), Aftab Hussain Saddique (NA-247), Attaullah (NA-250), Aftab Jhangir (NA-252), Muhammad Aslam Khan (NA-254), Muhammad Najeeb Haroon (NA-256), and Qasim Suri (NA-265). The resignations of Aliya Hamza Malik and Kanwal Shauzab, both on reserved seats for women from Punjab, have also been accepted, as has that of AML chief—and PTI ally—Sheikh Rashid Ahmed (NA-62).
Earlier, in July, the speaker had approved the resignations of 11 PTI members under Article 64(1) of the Constitution. These were Ali Muhammad Khan (NA-11), Fazal Muhammad Khan (NA-24), Shaukat Ali (NA-31), Fakhar Zaman Khan (NA-45), Farrukh Habib (NA-108), Ijaz Ahmad Shah (NA-118), Jamil Ahmed Khan (NA-237), Muhammad Akram Cheema (NA-239), Abdul Shakoor Shad (NA-246), and Shireen Mazari, on a reserved Seat for Women from Punjab, and Shandana Gulzar Khan on a reserved Seat for women from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
No contest
Leaders of the ruling coalition have suggested they will not participate in any by-elections on the vacated seats, as there would be less than six months remaining in the constitutional term of the National Assembly by the time any new lawmaker could take oath of office. Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman bluntly told media the ruling alliance would not contest any of the by-elections, while Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told Geo News “there was no need” to contest these seats when the parliamentary term was nearing completion.