Pak: PTI lawmakers to hold meeting with National Assembly Speaker on resignations issue

Islamabad: Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Raja Parvaiz Ashraf will hold a meeting with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers on Thursday for personal verification of the resignations of former ruling party's members of National Assembly (MNA), The Express Tribune reported citing National Assembly's spokesperson.
Ashraf said that members of PTI will have to come one by one to get their resignations approved. Speaking to reporters, he stressed that the process of verification of resignations cannot be conducted in a proper manner if the members of the National Assembly come in a group. Furthermore, Pakistan National Assembly Speaker stated that he has to follow the Constitution and the law on the issue of resignations, as per The Express Tribune report. Raja Parvaiz Ashraf said that members of the National Assembly have not written the resignations.
"The resignations were not written by the members. The PTI members did not come even on the previous summons," The Express Tribune quoted Raja Parvaiz Ashraf as saying.
Raja Parvaiz Ashraf added that PTI leader Aamir Dogar had consulted him to discuss the issue of resignations and added that the PTI members were informed about the policy of resignations. He called it important that the PTI members present their resignations so that they can be sent for verification.
Notably, 123 PTI members of the National Assembly resigned collectively on April 11, two days after party Chairman Imran Khan was ousted as the Prime Minister through a no-confidence motion, as per the news report. However, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on April 17 ordered the assembly secretariat to deal with the resignations of the PTI lawmakers afresh and present them before him.
Earlier on Wednesday, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said that as per law, a lawmaker needs to stand up and resign, however, "new laws are made for PTI every day," according to The Express Tribune. He said that PTI lawmakers had written a letter to National Assembly Speaker for the resignations, however, the response they received was unsatisfactory. He said that Aamir Dogar had spoken to the speaker's office and the party members will hold a meeting with Ashraf.
On Sunday, the National Assembly announced a clear policy regarding the confirmation of resignations of the PTI members, as per The Express Tribune report. The National Assembly spokesperson said that the PTI's request for joint appearance and acceptance of resignations is being heard once again.
The spokesperson further stated that a response was sent to the letter sent by PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi on December 22, according to The Express Tribune. The National Assembly Secretariat announced that the resignations of PTI lawmakers could in "no way" be verified collectively despite repeated requests from the party leadership to accept them. (ANI)