• Taking to Twitter, former prime minister Imran Khan lauds his MNAs for resigning from the National Assembly.
• Says MNAs are “standing firm for a sovereign Pak & against US-initiated regime change bringing to power criminals, convicted & on bail.”
• Says regime change is the ultimate insult to any self-respecting independent nation.

The Deputy Speaker of National Assembly Qasim Suri on Thursday accepted the resignations of 123 PTI MNAs after they decided to disassociate themselves from the National Assembly following the ouster of PTI Chairman Imran Khan from the office of the prime minister.

Khan was ousted through a no-confidence motion brought against him by the then joint Opposition, a move that the PTI called a “foreign conspiracy” hatched by the United States. The allegation, however, has been categorically denied by the superpower. 

After being removed from the office, the former premier asked his MNAs to tender their resignations and refused to accept the newly elected premier, saying “there can’t be any bigger insult to this country”.

Taking to Twitter Thursday, Imran Khan lauded his MNAs for tendering their resignations.

“Want to appreciate our 123 MNAs as their resignations have been accepted by Speaker Qasim Suri. Their standing firm for a sovereign Pak & against US-initiated regime change bringing to power criminals, convicted & on bail — the ultimate insult to any self-respecting indep[endent] nation.”

Responding to the call of the former prime minister, PTI’s MNAs tendered their resignations to the deputy speaker of the National Assembly hours before the election of Shehbaz Sharif as the new prime minister. 

The decision was reportedly made during the PTI’s parliamentary party meeting on April 11.

Sources privy to the matter quoted Khan as saying: “We will not sit in this Assembly under any circumstances.” 

He said that PTI will not sit in the Assembly with the “people who have robbed Pakistan” and who have been “imported by foreign forces”.

“We have made this decision to keep the institutions under pressure who want this government to run the country […] we will not let them continue.”

It is worth mentioning that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) can hold the by-elections at any given point and it is not bound by any time limit.

MNAs who did not resign

Meanwhile, some of the MNAs who have not resigned from the assembly include Farrukh Altaf, Amir Sultan Cheema, Afzal Dhandla, Ghulam Muhammad Lali, Asim Nazir, Nawab Sher Wasir, Riaz Fatyana, Ghulam Bibi Bharwana, Ahmed Hussain Deharr, Rai Murtaza Iqbal, Qasim Noon, Ghaffar Wattoo, Samiul Hassan Gilani, Makhdoom Mubeen, Basit Sultan Bukhari, Aamir Talal Gopang, Amjad Farooq Khosa, Sardar Jafar Leghari,  Javaria Zafar Aheer, Sardar Riaz Mazari, and Wajiha Akram.

Imran Khan ousted from power

On Saturday, April 10, Imran Khan was ousted as the prime minister of Pakistan from office through a no-confidence motion.

The session was chaired by Ayaz Sadiq — a member of the panel of chairs — after speaker Asad Qasier resigned from his post.

“174 members have recorded their votes in favour of the resolution, consequently the resolution for the vote on no-confidence against Mr Imran Khan, the prime minister of Pakistan, has been passed by a majority,” Ayaz Sadiq announced after the process of voting was completed.

Once the voting was concluded and the result was announced, Opposition leaders delivered their victory speeches. The session then was adjourned till 11am on Monday, April 11.