25 PTI, SIC members yet to resign from NA panels

ISLAMABAD: As many as 25 PTI, SIC MNAs /Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) have not yet resigned from various National Assembly standing committees, disregarding party instructions.

However, five more Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf /Sunni Ittehad Council members have recently resigned from their committee positions—bringing the total number of resignations to 52. According to parliamentary sources, the PTI/SIC legislators who continue to serve on various standing committees include Sohail Sultan, Muhammad Nawaz Khan, Muhammad Atif, Sher Ali Arbab, Osama Ahmed Mela, Ghulam Muhammad, Muhammad Saadullah, Umar Farooq, Muhammad Mehboob Sultan, Khawaja Sheeraz, Ayesha Nazir, Mian Ghaus Muhammad, and Fayyaz Hussain. The founding chairman of PTI, Imran Khan, had issued clear instructions for all PTI National Assembly members to resign from parliamentary committees.

Sources stated that Speaker of the National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, has not yet taken any formal action on the resignations submitted so far. Reportedly, the government has requested the Speaker not to accept the resignations of certain members. “As long as their resignations are not formally accepted, they continue to remain members of their respective House standing committees,” the sources maintained.

Amid this ongoing wave of resignations, PTI has announced a boycott of the National Assembly proceedings. Recently, its lawmakers held an ‘Awami Assembly’ outside the Parliament House as a form of protest. The party is expected to hold another informal session on Friday, when the National Assembly resumes its proceedings after a break.

The list of 25 lawmakers is wrong, as 8 to 10 members are out of the country, some have gone for Umrah, a few are unwell and there is also information that around eight more tendered resignations today,” said PTI Information Secretary Sh Waqas Akram, when contacted for his comment on the matter.