It is unfortunate that all disagreements and conflicts between rival political parties in the parliament lead to deadlock and disarray, instead of dialogue. Issues that could be straightened out through negotiation and compromise tend to lead to protests, walk-outs, court cases and legal crises, all at the expense of the country. The pending matter of PTI parliamentarians who had at one point exclaimed their resignation has very much followed the same disruptive pattern.
The problem started with PTI and the 131 parliamentarians who resigned in the first place. Resignation of such a large number of parliamentarians is a very serious issue and should be planned having considered the huge political and economic toll it would take on the country. It is unclear what political strategy PTI thought it could achieve through this mega resignation but whatever it was, the party does not seem like it wants to follow through on the decision. At the first verification of resignations, not a single out of the first batch of 30 parliamentarians showed up to claim good on their promise of resignation. This indicates that the supposed resignation of the PTI parliamentarians was for symbolic purposes and it does not seem like the party intends to hand in actual resignation notices.
Therein lies the second phase of the problem, which is that the new government can be equally stubborn as well in ensuring that the resignation is verified. For now, the matter is entirely in the government’s hands—if PTI continues delaying the issue, it seems like National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf will decide about the resignations under the rules and procedure of the conduct of the business.
If the resignations are accepted, that would mean the Election Commission of Pakistan would then have to proceed with conducting by-elections. Elections of over 100 seats a year before the general elections would be a prohibitively expensive and wasteful process, even more so considering that the National Assembly would be functioning with a vacancy of 131 seats for a good amount of time before the by-elections are held. This would be a futile and poor financial outcome of this political fiasco. It is hoped that all parties prioritise the good of the country and engage in a solution through dialogue instead.
The problem started with PTI and the 131 parliamentarians who resigned in the first place. Resignation of such a large number of parliamentarians is a very serious issue and should be planned having considered the huge political and economic toll it would take on the country. It is unclear what political strategy PTI thought it could achieve through this mega resignation but whatever it was, the party does not seem like it wants to follow through on the decision. At the first verification of resignations, not a single out of the first batch of 30 parliamentarians showed up to claim good on their promise of resignation. This indicates that the supposed resignation of the PTI parliamentarians was for symbolic purposes and it does not seem like the party intends to hand in actual resignation notices.
Therein lies the second phase of the problem, which is that the new government can be equally stubborn as well in ensuring that the resignation is verified. For now, the matter is entirely in the government’s hands—if PTI continues delaying the issue, it seems like National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf will decide about the resignations under the rules and procedure of the conduct of the business.
If the resignations are accepted, that would mean the Election Commission of Pakistan would then have to proceed with conducting by-elections. Elections of over 100 seats a year before the general elections would be a prohibitively expensive and wasteful process, even more so considering that the National Assembly would be functioning with a vacancy of 131 seats for a good amount of time before the by-elections are held. This would be a futile and poor financial outcome of this political fiasco. It is hoped that all parties prioritise the good of the country and engage in a solution through dialogue instead.