IRRESPECTIVE of the final outcome of the case, the Supreme Court has raised legitimate questions about the rationale behind collective resignations by PTI members of the National Assembly and the connected issue of amendments in the accountability law by Parliament.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, who is part of the three-member bench hearing the petition of Imran Khan against recent amendments in the law, said the former Prime Minister should have approached Parliament for the purpose instead of agitating the issue before the apex court.
He also questioned whether Imran Khan did not breach the trust of the people by resigning from the Assembly.
The highest court of the land has repeatedly indicated that it wanted the PTI to return to the Assembly to play its part in the legislative and other business and has also counselled it on different occasions to consider doing so.
It seems the party itself is slowly changing its policy and approach on the issue and wants some sort of face-saving to rejoin the NA.
The latest queries of the Supreme Court judge came at a time when several de-seated PTI lawmakers claimed before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that the Speaker of the National Assembly had treated their “en masse letters” as a resignation and recommended their de-notification to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
In a departure from their previous demand that their resignations be accepted forthwith, PTI leaders Dr Shireen Mazari, Ali Mohammad Khan, Farrukh Habib, Shandana Gulzar, Fazal Mohammd, Shaukat Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Ijaz Shah, Jameel Ahmed Khan and Mohammad Akram have moved the high court against the approval of their ‘resignations’ by the NA Speaker and the ECP.
This change of mind speaks volumes as the process for by-elections against their seats has already been initiated by the Commission and PTI fielded its Chairman as the only candidate for all of them.
Hopefully, the issue would be resolved strictly in accordance with the law and the Constitution and not on any other consideration and at the same time the PTI would listen to the advice of the Supreme Court about returning to the National Assembly.
