- Decision taken in accordance with the directives of Imran Khan: Gohar
- He says that the party will hold peaceful demonstrations outside the parliament chamber.
- Waqas Akram says that the MNA will witness briefly, then boycott the sessions.
Islamabad: After having submitted resignations of several parliamentary panels, Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTI) has now decided to boycott the sessions of the National Assembly (NA), The news reported Tuesday.
The move, in accordance with the directives of the founder of the PTI, Imran Khan, will see the party converging outside the Parliament for an informal procedure.
The evolution comes in the context of the multiple disqualifications of PTI legislators, notably the former opposition chief in the NA and the Senate Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz, after the courts condemned them in cases linked to the riots of May 9 – more exacerbating the existing legal misfortunes of the former ruling party.
Announcing the decision, the president of the PTI, lawyer Gohar Ali Khan, said that the members of the parliamentary party fully support the decision and that they would now organize peaceful protest rallies outside the Parliament.
“Our members were disqualified and we were not even allowed to speak. If we wanted to celebrate independence, they did not allow us to do so either,” deplored Gohar while thinking about the disqualifications of the PTI legislators.
“We tried to submit our requests during the assembly session in a democratic way, but we were not allowed to speak,” added the president of the PTI.
When contacted, the information secretary of the PTI Waqas Akram confirmed development. But when asked, party legislators would remain completely away from the session, he explained that the members would briefly attend each session and then occur to protest.
“Our members will hold the assembly outside the parliament,” he said.
Meanwhile, the president of NA, Ayaz Sadiq, urged the members of the Sunni Ittehad Council (sic) supported by PTI to reconsider their decision to resign from the permanent committees of the lower chamber.
“I would like them to remain part of the permanent committees of the Chamber,” said Sadiq when he pressed a meeting of the Advisory Committee for the Chamber earlier.
