ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has severely criticized Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf for his absence from his chamber when the party members tried to verify their resignations here on Friday.
Also read: Speaker NA accepts resignations of 35 more PTI MNAs
Speaking to the media outside the Parliament House minutes after Speaker NA Raja Pervez Ashraf accepted resignations of some 35 more MNAs, former NA Speaker Asad Qaiser condemned the decision of accepting resignations of their party MNAs, submitted in April but accepted in three phases till now, as “illegal and immoral”.
He said Ashraf had told them that the resignations will not be accepted unless he verifies them individually.
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Speaking on this occasion, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry questioned claims, made earlier by Speaker NA, that about 17 or 18 PTI MNAs were in touch with him regarding their resignations.
Chaudhry further added that as 81 resignations have been accepted, “a date for the upcoming general elections should also be given now”.
Expressing his displeasure over the decision, the PTI leader blamed the current government for the political and economic crisis. “We are heading towards a Sri Lanka-like situation,” he said.
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PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the speaker first said that he cannot accept the resignations collectively. “We decided to come to the meeting and he [the speaker] postponed it and when we came to the assembly, he accepted the resignations of 35 more MNAs,” said Qureshi, demanding that the rest of the resignations should also be accepted.
