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MNAs to be summoned individually for verification of resignations, speaker tells PTI

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  • PTI delegation meets NA speaker in his chamber.
  • Delegation was led by former speaker Asad Qaiser.
  • Doors are not closed in politics, speaker tells PTI.

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Thursday informed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) delegation led by Asad Qaiser that for verification of the resignation the party’s lawmakers will be called individually. 

The delegation met the speaker in his chamber to discuss their resignation verification issue amid talk of the party’s return to the assembly.

The delegation included former speaker Asad Qaiser, Qasim Suri, Amir Dogar, Dr Shabbir Hussain, Ataullah, Fahim Khan and Tahir Iqbal.

“Doors are not closed in politics there should be contact between politicians,” the speaker told the delegation. He added that decision on the resignations will be made as per the Constitution and rules of the assembly.

The speaker added that he had invited PTI lawmakers to confirm the resignations. He added that when he accepted a few resignations one of the PTI lawmakers from Karachi appealed to a high court to stop the resignation.

Later, Ashraf, in conversation to the media after meeting with the PTI delegation, said that they met in a very “pleasant environment”.

Sharing the details of the meeting, Ashraf said that the delegation members asked him to accept the resignations of 127 PTI members en bloc.

“However, I told them that there are some rules and regulations and limitations [regarding the approval of resignations],” he said.

Article 64 of the Constitution requires a handwritten resignation by a lawmaker, which must be verified by the NA speaker by summoning the relevant MNA in person.

“The speaker has the responsibility to make sure that the [resigning] MNAs are not under pressure,” he added.

Ashraf further stated that he told the PTI delegation to return to the Parliament.

Ashraf said that some of the MNAs even approached the courts, contending that they didn’t tender the resignations, some applied for leaves and some used to leave after marking attendance in the assembly.

Moving on to the party positions, the NA speaker said that it is a completely different matter if a party maintains a political stance.

PTI’s Chief Whip Amir Dogar had contacted the NA speaker, requesting him to meet the PTI delegation.

According to Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, he welcomed them to meet him, saying that dialogues are the only solution in a parliamentary democracy. However, he added that verification of their resignation would still be subject to one-by-one meetings.

However, on Wednesday, the NA speaker said that the PTI delegation did not come to meet him today and asked for a meeting today at 11:30am.

“Dogar told me that some of the PTI leaders wanted to meet me regarding their resignations; however, I told him that I would meet all of them separately and not in groups,” added Ashraf.

On Wednesday, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said they are willing to play a role in Parliament, but the government is not ready to commit seriously.

The PTI leader made the remarks while reacting to Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s statement against PTI chief Imran Khan.

Bilawal, addressing a gathering in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh held to mark the 15th death anniversary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, asked the PTI chief to return to parliament as neither he nor his party “could bear” what’s coming to them.

The PTI MNAs had resigned en masse after PTI Chairman Imran Khan was voted out from the prime minister’s office in April and have yet to return to the house.

Elections

Atta Tarar’s triumph over NA-127 in the LHC is contested

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The victory of Attaullah Tarar, the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) from Lahore’s NA-127 constituency in the general elections on February 8 has been contested in the Lahore High Court (LHC).

Samiullah Khan’s victory from PP-145 has also been contested. The petitions will be heard by Election Tribunal Judge Sultan Tanveer. The petitions have included the Pakistani Election Commission (ECP) and other parties as parties.

In the meantime, Attaullah Tarar stated during a discussion with Miss Zoe Ware, the Political Counselor of the British High Commission, that fake news, misinformation, and disinformation were global issues that needed to be managed.

According to the minister, fake news is the largest issue on social media, and the government is working to address it.

The conference covered a wide range of topics, including the two nations’ relationship and how to foster media collaboration. Collaboration in the drama and cinema industries was also covered.

According to Attaullah Tarar, social media verification should be adopted by journalists, and a global code of conduct for social media usage should be created.

Miss Zoe Ware thanked Attaullah Tarar on taking over as Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) on establishing the cabinet.

She was given the assurance that the UK diplomat will work with her to promote bilateral ties between Pakistan and the UK.

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Pakistan

US commitment to resolving Pakistan’s energy crisis is prioritized

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According to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, Pakistan was assisted by the United States in producing an extra 4,000 megawatts of sustainable energy.

According to him, these kinds of initiatives have given Pakistan more capacity to produce energy, allowing it to power millions of people.

The spokesman restated that both nations will cooperate through the green alliance to address the environmental issues.

At a news briefing, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, “Earlier, the United States advised Pakistan to halt the Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline Project, as engaging in business with Iran poses the risk of encountering U.S. sanctions.”

“We always advise everyone that doing business with Iran carries the risk of encountering our sanctions, and we would advise everyone to consider that very carefully,” he continued. “I’m not going to preview any potential sanctions.”

He said, “We do not support this pipeline going forward, as the Assistant Secretary made clear last week.”

The Pakistan-Iran pipeline project was approved for completion a few months ago by the caretaker administration in Pakistan. But after this permission, Pakistan received an official statement from the US expressing its worries. Pakistan again put a stop to the project’s execution when the United States expressed concerns.

Miller said, “We condemn the attack on a convoy of PRC engineers in Pakistan,” in response to a query. Miller also denounced the terrorist attack on Chinese engineers in Pakistan. We offer our sincere condolences to all impacted by the incident and are extremely saddened by the deaths and injuries incurred.

He declared, “Terrorists have caused enormous suffering to the Pakistani people, and Chinese nationals living in Pakistan have also been the targets of terrorist strikes.” Such acts of terror should not occur in any nation.

In response to a question concerning a letter from Pakistani judges, the spokesperson stated that while he had seen the letter, he had not yet conferred with his colleagues and would not be making any comments.

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Pakistan

Fazlur Rehman says the government led by Shehbaz won’t be able to deliver

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Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), expressed doubts on Wednesday over the viability of the Shehbaz Sharif administration, stating that he believes the new system will fail if citizens go to the streets.

Fazlur Rehman stated on Wednesday’s “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath” segment of Geo News that “the parliament will likely be a rubber stamp.” There are simply too many obstacles for this government to handle. In the end, politicians will be held accountable for all of their shortcomings.”

The “crime is committed by someone else and the politicians take responsibility,” he said, calling it bizarre. The leader of JUI-F declared that his organization will demonstrate against the establishments that had turned the elections into a “game.”


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Fazl has previously said that he would abstain from the by-elections for the National Assembly and provincial assembly seats. In addition, he declared that on April 25, following Ramadan, he will start a protest campaign against the purported election manipulation from Balochistan.

“We firmly believe that there will be a rigged general election in 2024. And the factor that changed the outcome would be our aim. We reject the findings that led to the formation of this government,” he declared.

The leader of JUI-F stated that they disagreed with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa election results.

“[Earlier] the issues with the PTI were ideological and not election-related,” he said.

He stated that the party had not yet made the decision to work with the PTI. He did concede, though, that the Imran Khan-led party’s attitude has changed for the better. He remarked that it was a positive attitude and that it would not be a problem if the two parties moved together.

Fazl also revealed that he told Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister, that he thought of him as a new blue-eyed boy during their meeting.

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