Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, along with a number of his party members, tendered his resignation as a member of the National Assembly (MNA) on Monday, a day after his ouster as the prime minister through a no-confidence vote. The former ruling party posted the resignation of its chairman on a Twitter post.
Earlier in the day, the party announced it was resigning from the National Assembly minutes before the scheduled election of the new prime minister, paving the way for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif to secure the coveted slot.
The decision was made at a parliamentary meeting of the party, chaired by Imran Khan, at the Parliament House in the afternoon. “The parliamentary party has decided to resign from the assemblies against the imported government,” PTI Central Information Secretary Farrukh Habib confirmed in a tweet. As soon as the announcement was made, Murad Saeed resigned as an MNA, making his the first resignation from the party.
Soon after, PTI’s Ali Haider Zaidi also announced his resignation, saying he had submitted the same to Imran Khan. “No way we should legitimise this foreign-funded regime change in Pakistan. The battle for the sovereignty of Pakistan will now be decided on the streets by the people, not these looters,” he said in a tweet.
Ali Amin Gandapur was next to step down from his post. “I am proud to be a follower of Imran Khan and will fight till my death for the freedom of Pakistan and parliament,” he said. Hammad Azhar, Shireen Mazari and Shafaqt Mahmood also resigned from their respective posts.
On the other hand, the governors of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan resigned from their posts. Imran Ismail stepped down as the Sindh governor soon after Shehbaz was elected as the prime minister. “I refuse to work for culprits who are the subject of an ongoing federal investigation on account of serious charges of corruption and financial misconduct of billions of rupees,” he said in the resignation sent to President Arif Alvi.
KP Governor Shah Farman and GB Governor Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon followed suit and sent their resignation to the president. On the other hand, Dr Fehmida Mirza of the Grand Democratic Alliance, an ally of the former PTI-led government, said its members would not resign from the National Assembly. She told Minute Mirror that MNAs Ghous Khan Mehar, Saira Banu and herself would sit on the opposition benches.
