ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Chaudhry Fawad Hussain Tuesday said that the party did not have any intention of returning to the National Assembly, asserting that the incumbent speaker did not have the authority to review the resignations of party members after they had been accepted by the previous speaker.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad alongside Hammad Azhar, he said that the party considered parliament to be “occupied”.
“They have taken possession of the assembly and we don’t have any intention of returning.
“We are of the opinion that the NA speaker has accepted the resignations of our lawmakers and this speaker does not have the authority to review [the decision].”
He announced that the party would file a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) today (Wednesday) for its right to protest. “A peaceful protest is the constitutional right of the PTI,” he maintained.
He alleged that a “certain lobby had imposed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz on us, which is unacceptable”
Meanwhile, party leader Farrukh Habib reiterated that PTI lawmakers had resigned from the lower house of parliament. “At the time, Qasim Suri had issued a notification accepting the resignations,” he said.
“There is no need for further action,” Habib said, alleging that the resignations were illegally being postponed.
Separately, PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of interfering in the money laundering cases underway against him and his family.
“Crime Minister trying to interfere in his & his family’s money laundering cases by altering record thru friendly prosecution,” the ousted premier said in a series of tweets.
Imran also alleged that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), “on behest of Crime Minister has taken back challan for supplementary reference for altering it to destroy the case in toto.”
He urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice to ensure a fair trial by appointing a monitoring judge to oversee all mega cases of politicians.
The PTI chief went on to say that NAB bill amendment was basically an NRO and that it will destroy the anti-corruption campaign in Pakistan for all times to come.
According to Imran, with the said move, all cases against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari will be closed and a new round of mega corruption will commence.
“As it is, five months have passed and the FIA court has failed to frame charges. This speaks volumes for how big thieves exploit & manipulate the system,” he maintained.
Last week, the former prime minister gave the PML-N government an ultimatum to either announce a schedule for early elections or face the ‘wrath of the public’ in the form of another long march on Islamabad.
In April, the cricketer-turned-politician was voted out from power through a vote of a no-confidence motion, becoming the first prime minister in the country’s history to be unseated by a parliamentary revolt.
The joint opposition’s no-confidence motion, which required 172 votes in the 342-strong parliament to pass, was supported by 174 lawmakers, resulting in an unprecedented ouster of Imran. Later, Shehbaz Sharif was elected as the country’s 23rd prime minister.
