Sindh PA speaker accepts resignations of four PTI MPAs

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly Speaker, Agha Siraj Durrani, on Wednesday announced that he had accepted the resignations of four members of the provincial assembly belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
“I have accepted the resignations of four MPAs belonging to the PTI and forwarded their resignations to the Election Commission for further action,” said the Speaker at the outset of proceedings of a new session of the Sindh Assembly that commenced here on Wednesday.
The four PTI MPAs of theAssembly are: Syed Hafeezuddin, elected from constituency PS-93 Karachi; Samar Ali Khan, elected from PS-113 Karachi; Khurrum Sher Zaman, from PS-112 Karachi, and Dr Seema Zia, MPA on reserved seat for woman.
These four MPAs had tendered their resignations to secretariat of provincial assembly on September 1, 2014 as part of the PTI’s drive to agitate against alleged rigging against the party’s candidates in May 11, 2013, general elections.
As part of the same protest drive, which started with long march of supporters and activists of the PTI from Lahore to Islamabad in mid August 2014, the opposition party’s lawmakers in National Assembly and Punjab Assembly had also tendered resignations except a few MNAs of the PTI who later stated that they had not tendered their resignation out of their free will.
The acceptance of resignations of PTI’s lawmakers in National and Punjab assemblies has been pending since last year as Speakers of the two Houses had taken firm stand that they wanted every resigning lawmaker to individually appear before them (the Speaker) for confirming that they had submitted their resignation with their full consent and not under duress.
The Sindh Assembly Speaker didn’t summon the resigning MPAs to personally appear before him for confirming tendering of their resignations.The surprise move of the Sindh Assembly Speaker to accept resignations of the four MPAs came at a time when in March 3 there would be election held for 11 vacant seats in Senate from Sindh.