ISLAMABAD: The political crisis deepened in Pakistan on Wednesday after ahigh court suspended an order issued by the country’s election regulatorlast month de-notifying 43 lawmakers of ex-prime minister Imran Khan’sPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, ordering that by-elections in therespective constituencies be put on hold.
Khan’s party had announced it would quit the National Assembly en masseafter he was driven out of power last April in a parliamentary vote ofno-confidence. However, Speaker, Raja Parvez Ashraf, said he needed toindividually verify if the lawmakers were resigning of their own accord.
After months of delays, Ashraf finally accepted the resignations of 81 PTIlawmakers in three separate phases since the party announced its intent notto return to the legislative body last year. They were all subsequentlydenotified by the ECP.
However, at least 43 PTI lawmakers then said they wanted to withdraw theirresignations on Khan’s instructions so that the party could retain therequisite numbers to claim the opposition leader’s slot in parliament.
On Wednesday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) heard a plea filed by PTI’s RiazFatyana and other lawmakers against the approval of their resignations bythe National Assembly speaker. The court then suspended the ECP’snotification.
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“The court has suspended [ECP’s] decision as it was made on a politicalbasis by the speaker of the national assembly,” PTI’s general secretaryAsad Umar announced on Twitter. “The membership of 43 PTI MNAs has beenrestored,” he added.
Analysts say the PTI, which initially threatened the en masse resignationsto force early general elections, now wants to maintain its presence in thenational legislature so it can be part of the consultative process for theappointment of the interim setup ahead of the general elections later thisyear. They are eying the leader of the opposition slot, who has a directsay in the interim set up.
