Have not received LHC order suspending resignations of 43 PTI lawmakers, says NA speaker

National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf informed on Thursday that the NA Secretariat had yet to receive the Lahore High Court’s order regarding the suspension of the resignations of 43 PTI lawmakers. As the de-notified members of parliament began to arrive at the Parliament House, Ashraf stated that the NA Secretariat had not been officially notified of the case.

Last year in April, the PTI party resigned en masse from the National Assembly. After several months of delays from Ashraf, he finally accepted the resignations earlier this year, leading to the de-notification of 123 members of parliament (including reserved seats) by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

However, on Wednesday, the Lahore High Court suspended the de-notification orders of 43 PTI party members of parliament and issued notices to both the federal government and the electoral body.

In a video message today, Ashraf said that he had not received the LHC’s order nor was it in his knowledge. “The order is not with us … we can’t read it or go into the details.”

The speaker of the National Assembly (NA) stated that the government has not been officially notified of the case and only learned of it through television. The speaker added that once they receive the decision, they will consult with lawyers and experts before deciding on the next steps.

Meanwhile, PTI lawmakers Sajida Begum, Rai Murtaza Iqbal, Nusrat Wahid, Shanila Ruth, Asma Hamid, Ghazals Saifi, and Jai Parkash, whose resignations were suspended, arrived at the Parliament House with the intention of selecting their own opposition leader.

The opposition leader of the Senate, Shahzad Waseem, told reporters outside the NA secretariat that the speaker is obligated to abide by the court’s orders. He emphasized that the high court has declared the speaker’s acceptance of resignations as illegal. Waseem stated that the PTI lawmakers will attend the Parliament session today with the hope of appointing their own opposition leader. He said, “God willing, we will have our own opposition leader.”

PTI lawmakers whose resignations have been suspended

1. Muhammad Riaz Khan Fatyana
2. Nasrullah Khan Dreshak
3. Tahir Sadiq
4. Zulfiqar Ali Khan
5. Haji Imtiaz Chowdry
6. Malik Muhammad Ehsan Ullah Tiwana
7. Raza Nasrullah
8. Muhammad Mehboob Sultan
9. Muhammad Ameer Sultan
10. Rai Muhammad Murtaza Iqbal
11. Mian Muhammad Shafiq
12. Muhammad Farooq Azam Malik
13. Javed Iqbal Warakh
14. Muhammad Shabbir Ali Qureshi
15. Niaz Ahmed
16. Khwaja Sheraz Mehmood
17. Sardar Mohammad Khan Leghari
18. Rukhsana Naveed
19. Seemin Bukhari
20. Munaza Hassan
21. Nusrat Wahid
22. Fauzia Behram
23. Tashfeen Safdar
24. Lal Chand
25. Jai Parkash
26. Jamshed Thomas
27. Malik Anwar Taj
28. Mohammad Yaqoob Sheikh
29. Ghazala Saifi
30. Syma Nadeem
31. Naureen Farooque Khan
32. Uzma Riaz
33. Shaheen Niaz Saifullah
34. Gul Zafar Khan
35. Jawad Hussain
36. Rahat Amanullah Bhatti
37. Sobia Kamal Khan
38. Nausheed Hamid
39. Rubina Jamil
40. Nafeesa Inayatullah Khattak
41. Sajida Zulfiqar
42. Zile Huma
43. Shunila Ruth