Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf has accepted the resignations of 43 more Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPs, virtually wiping out former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party from Parliament. Sources gave this information on Tuesday.
The development comes a day after 45 MPs from Khan’s party collectively withdrew their resignations from the National Assembly. He also requested the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that he should not be notified if the Speaker approves his resignation.
The move, however, did not materialize as the Speaker cleared another 43 resignations and sent them to the ECP for de-notification, sources said.
Following this, Khan’s party was left with only two members in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, apart from 24 dissidents who refused to resign.
The ECP has not yet de-notified these MPs. At the same time, the MPs had requested to look into their plea regarding exemption from non-notification. At present, it is not clear whether the government will conduct elections only on the vacant seats or will conduct general elections ahead of time.
General elections are due after August 16, when the current parliament completes its five-year term. At least 123 MPs from Khan’s party decided to quit in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote.