• PTI issues show-cause notice to Abdul Shakoor Shad, 
• Party asks MNA to submit reply within seven days.
• PTI says Shad had approached IHC “suddenly” over resignation.

KARACHI: The PTI on Saturday suspended the membership of its lawmaker Abdul Shakoor Shad and issued a show-cause notice to him over his recent remarks and decision to approach Islamabad High Court (IHC).

In the notice, PTI’s Sindh chapter told the lawmaker that he had submitted his “handwritten resignation letter” and also shared it on his Twitter.

The notice also claimed that Shad in his Twitter bio had written that he was a former member of the National Assembly (MNA). It further stated that the Karachi lawmaker had also filed his papers as a covering candidate for PTI Chairman Imran Khan for the NA-246 by-elections.

“Despite strict party instructions to not withdraw your candidature, you (Shad) withdrew your papers after acceptance of the party chairman’s papers,” the notice read. It also stated that the lawmaker had approached the Islamabad High Court “suddenly” and gone against the party policy.

The notice also claimed that Shad had gone to the media and spoken against the party on “various occasions”.

“This is gross misconduct and in violation of party rules and therefore you (Shad) are required to submit a reply within seven days of this notice stating why your (Shad) party membership should not be cancelled. Till that time your basic party membership is hereby suspended and you cease to hold any party office and/or position,” said the notice.

Shad was elected from NA-246 in the 2018 elections after he defeated PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. The seat was considered a stronghold of the PPP as it includes Karachi’s Lyari neighbourhood which has historically voted for the Bilawal-led party since his grandfather’s time.

However, in April of this year, the PTI lawmakers tendered their resignations en masse after Imran Khan’s government was ousted through a no-confidence motion in April. Later, the then deputy speaker Qasim Suri accepted the resignations and issued a notification in this regard.

However, resignations of PTI members were de-sealed once Raja Pervez Ashraf was elected as the National Assembly speaker.

Subsequently, in July Shad was among the 11 lawmakers whose resignation was accepted by Speaker Ashraf under Article 64(1) of the Constitution of Pakistan.

Once the resignations were approved by the speaker, the ECP issued a schedule for by-elections on the vacant seats and fixed September 25 as the date for polling.

However, things took a new twist on Friday (yesterday) when Shad challenged his resignation in the IHC, saying that he had expressed solidarity with the 123 MNAs who had left their seats, but he never resigned.

During the hearing, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah directed Shad to continue working as a lawmaker and also nullified the ECP notification that de-notified him.

IHC CJ Minallah also issued notices to ECP and the NA Secretariat, seeking answers from them within two weeks.