Former PTI MNAs move SHC against acceptance of resignations

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) former members National Assembly (MNAs) from Karachi on Saturday filed an application in the Sindh High Court (SHC) against the NA speaker accepting their resignations and the holding of by-elections on the vacant seats.

Aftab Siddiqui and others said that the notification of holding by-polls on March 16 should be set aside and their seats restored because there was illegality in the acceptance of their resignations.

They said the Lahore High Court (LHC) had already stopped the decision to accept the resignations of the PTI’s MNAs and their seats had been restored, while the court had also stayed the by-polls on the vacant seats.

The PTI’s counsel Shahab Imam said the NA speaker had illegally accepted the resignations. He said the legal way of accepting the resignations could not happen, so the speaker’s malice was clear, as a “puppet” opposition leader was currently sitting in the NA.

He also said the PTI had challenged the speaker’s notification to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), and the LHC had rightly suspended the holding of the by-polls.

Later, PTI Karachi President Siddiqui told the media that the party’s lawmakers had resigned from the NA on April 11 but their resignations had not been immediately accepted by the speaker.

He said they had filed an application against holding the by-elections and also against “rigging” in the recent local government polls. There were issues in the counting of votes and other irregularities by the ECP staff, he added.

Replying to a query, he said the PTI and the Jamaat-e-Islami had held a meeting and decided to form a committee to safeguard each other’s votes.

The PTI will hold talks with the Jamaat-e-Islami about forming the local government after resolving the issue of the announcement of the election results he added.

Other former PTI MNAs, including Saifur Rehman Khan, Faheem Khan, Attaullah Khan, Aftab Jahangir, Faheem Khan and Najeeb Haroon, were also present on the occasion.

Khan told the media that the returning officers are under threat from the relevant minister because they are provincial employees, adds our correspondent. He claimed that Dadu’s RO was threatened a day earlier for taking a stand against this “mafia”.

The former legislator said that the entire PTI stands with the RO. The people of Karachi have given their mandate to the PTI, so the city’s mandate will not be

allowed to be stolen, he added.