ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party said on Wednesday it was ready to welcome the return of former prime minister Imran Khan’s political faction to the National Assembly while ruling out the possibility of snap national elections.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party decided to constitute a committee to discuss the options of returning to the lower house of parliament from which it resigned last April while trying to mount pressure on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition administration to call early general elections.
The development came after the PTI dissolved the assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces this week where it was in power while deciding to return to the National Assembly to appoint its own leader of the opposition to participate in the deliberations related to the appointment of the next caretaker administration in the country.
“We are ready to welcome the PTI back in parliament, but there is zero chance of early national elections,” Saad Waseem, PML-N’s secretary parliamentary affairs, told Arab News.
Last year, speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf appointed a PTI dissident Raja Riaz as the opposition leader in the house after Khan’s party resigned. Riaz enjoys the support of about 16 other PTI dissident members.
“Once the PTI returns to the National Assembly, we will see if they have the numbers to get their opposition leader appointed,” Waseem continued. “The democratic process will be followed, and the decision will be made as per the rules and procedures of the assembly.”
The parliamentary secretary said the provincial elections will be held in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces after the dissolution of their assemblies as per the constitution, adding the federal government would continue to stay in power until it finishes its term in August.
Khan was ousted from power in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence last April and has since been mounting pressure on the federal authorities to call early national elections.
In a setback to PTI’s plan of return to the national legislature, the speaker on Tuesday accepted 35 more resignations of the party, including one of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, to thwart the move. In July, the speaker accepted 11 resignations of PTI members while elections were held on nine seats and Khan returned as winner on seven.
As per the National Assembly tally, the PTI still enjoys the support of about 80 lawmakers and can get its own leader of the opposition appointed.
“We are preparing to go back to the National Assembly to bring our opposition leader, so that a proper consultative process for the installation of the caretaker government can begin at the center,” Farrukh Habib, PTI’s central secretary information, told Arab News.
He said it was mandatory for the prime minister to consult the opposition leader before installing the caretaker prime minister as per the constitution, adding this was the reason why the PTI wanted “to remove the dummy opposition leader” in the house.
Habib said Khan, who is also the PTI chairman, had constituted a committee to discuss all available options to become part of the assembly, “and we will soon be making a final decision on it.”
The constitution says the president will appoint the caretaker prime minister in consultation with the prime minister and the leader of opposition in the outgoing National Assembly.
“The PTI will not participate in any formal proceeding of the assembly to validate the government but play its constitutional role for the early national elections,” he added.