Apr 05 , 2015
NewsPTI announces return to Parliament; Imran to attend joint session
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced Sunday that its lawmakers will return to Parliament from Monday, months after the opposition legislators resigned from the National Assembly in protest against alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections.
“Our core committee has decided that the Tehreek-e-Insaf will go to the joint session tomorrow,” party chairman Imran Khan told a press conference here today.
“We have decided to return to the assemblies from Monday, where we will play our role as a formidable opposition. I will also attend the joint parliamentary session tomorrow and will present PTI’s stance on Yemen,” said the PTI chief.
Khan said that Pakistan has special relations with Saudi Arabia and Muslims are willing to sacrifice their lives for the two holy cities of Makkah and Medina.
He added that, however, Pakistan has to learn from history and it should not get involved in the conflict of others. “We faced damages of 100 billion due to taking part in the US led war in Afghanistan,” Khan said.
To a question he said that the PTI assembly members had tendered resignations which were not accepted.
Talking about by-elections in NA-246 Karachi, the PTI chief said it was right of the PTI to contest the polls.
Khan went on to say that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had a golden opportunity to become a democratic party.
He further said there were no go areas in Karachi where nobody could contest election as a sense of fear and terror prevailed there, adding that PTI candidate Imran Ismail had been attacked two times and the incidents were pre-planned.
The PTI chief also said that there was no clash between the MQM and PTI and rather it was an attack from one side. He said he has asked his party workers to refrain from retaliation.
“We know the people of Karachi and they do not indulge in such kind of violence. “
He warned that if any of his party workers were hurt he would go to court in London with evidence against MQM chief Altaf Hussain for inciting violence.
He went on to say that he would go to Karachi and his workers would remain peaceful. “I am ready for any consequence, the time has come to make Karachi free of fear,” he added.
Opposition leader in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Shah said that that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will welcome PTI MNAs in the next session of the NA.
He asked the PTI chief not to opt out of the political process and remain its part for the good of the country and himself.
PTI lawmakers had resigned from the National Assembly after months of protests against alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections and what they termed as the government’s unwillingness to form the judicial commission to probe alleged electoral irregularities.
But the two sides came to a consensus last week when they signed an agreement on the formation of the commission.
President Mamnoon Hussain on Friday also signed the ordinance for the formation of the commission.
“We had previously decided that as long as the judicial commission is not formed we will not return to Parliament. But then we were told that a joint session has been called (on Yemen)," Khan told reporters here today.
“Now that the judicial commission has been decided and an ordinance has been promulgated, we will join Parliament from tomorrow,” he said.
The president, on the advice of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has called a joint session of Parliament on April 6(Monday) to discuss the crisis in Yemen and Riyadh’s request for Pakistani troops in the ongoing Saudi-led operation against Houthi rebels.
Courtesy www.thenews.com.pk