Amid move to pronounce MNAs’ resignations: President prorogues NA session

Well-placed parliamentary sources say NA session won't be summoned before Jan end

By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir

December 14, 2022

President Dr Arif Alvi addressing the Joint Session of the Parliament, at Parliament House, Islamabad, on 06-10-2022. — PID

ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi has scuttled PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s move to enforce acceptance of PTI MNAs’ resignations by pronouncing their resignations in the house in the presence of Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

If the PTI resorts to this tactic, it would be imperative for the speaker to consign the document of quitting the member/s to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for notifying the vacation of their seats.

The development took place on Tuesday when the president suddenly prorogued the National Assembly session that had commenced on November 3.

Well-placed parliamentary sources told The News that the National Assembly’s session would not be summoned before the end of January next year and as long as the house isn’t in session, the possibility of pronouncement by sitting members to quit their membership wouldn’t be possible.

Imran Khan announced in his interaction with members of the Punjab Assembly last week that he would ask the party MNAs whose resignations hadn’t been accepted by the speaker so far to go to the house and articulate their resignations one after the other in the presence of the speaker.

According to PTI chairman, the action would help build pressure on the incumbent government to call general polls after dissolving the National Assembly.

The action was planned simultaneously with the dissolution of Punjab and KP provincial assemblies.

The sources pointed out that the NA session that had been adjourned sine die on Tuesday was the longest one, except the budget sessions.

The house was summoned by the president and in normal course the summary for prorogation was drafted by the secretariat of the speaker and consigned to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The prime minister issues the advice to the president who passes order for prorogation and dispatches the same to the speaker for announcing in the house. The sources reminded that Imran had planned to dissolve the Punjab Assembly next week that would be followed by the resignations of MNAs. Keeping in view the new situation, the members of the NA belonging to the PTI could submit requisition for summoning the house. Twenty percent of the house members could submit requisition for convening the session, the sources added.