Prodigal son returns

• Yemen issue brings PTI chief to Parliament’s joint session today, says will present his party’s point of view on crisis
• PTI leader says majority of PTI lawmakers in favour of returning to NA after promulgation of ordinance for rigging probe

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Sunday announced that lawmakers of his party will join the Parliament after almost seven months of remaining absent from the assemblies.

Speaking to reporters after emerging from a huddle with the party’s core policy makers, Imran Khan said, “We have decided to attend the joint session of parliament tomorrow (Monday). The Yemen issue is very important. I will attend myself and present my party’s point of view.”

The PTI Central Executive Committee (CEC) met on Sunday to discuss the party’s fate in the national and provincial assemblies after the government granted its demand of a judicial commission to probe alleged rigging in the May 2013 general elections.

Khan said members of the National Assembly (MNAs), including him, are set to attend a joint session of parliament on the Yemen crisis scheduled for Monday.

“We have special relations with Saudi Arabia and Muslims are willing to sacrifice their lives for the two holy cities – Makkah and Medina. However, we have to learn from history and we should not get involved in the conflict of others. We suffered damages worth $100 billion by participating in the US-led war in Afghanistan,” he added.

Further, he insisted the government spell out its policy on providing military assistance to Saudi Arabia.

Khan said as per the agreement with the government, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had assured the PTI delegation of managing the presidential ordinance till April 4, 2015. In response, PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi gave him the assurance that PTI would end it’s boycott of assemblies.

He harked back to the reasons behind his call for PTI MNAs’ resignations. “Why did we march from Lahore on August 14?” he asked, referring to his protracted anti-government campaign launched last year in August to demand an investigation into alleged election fraud.

“Now the decision for the formation of the judicial commission has come,” he said. He also explained that the CEC members debated whether the party should wait to join the assemblies until the commission was actually formed, as opposed to the current status of the promulgation of the ordinance.

He said that the joint session on Yemen was a major factor behind the decision to re-join parliament.

Earlier, PTI MNA Dr. Azhar Jadoon said that the CEC of the party collectively agreed on the decision to join the parliament.

Jadoon said that a majority of PTI lawmakers were in favour of returning to the National Assembly after promulgation of the ordinance as they believe that major demand of PTI has been met regarding the Judicial Commission to probe the allegations of the rigging in the general elections of May 2013.

“Some MNAs of the PTI also opposed the decision of the CEC as they believe that the party should wait until the actual formation of the commission because only an ordinance has been promulgated until now,” the PTI MNA added.

With the PTI out of the assembly, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq — the same successful candidate whose constituency Khan alleges was rigged in the election — was under pressure to end the impasse swiftly and amicably.

Sadiq was caught between making a decision on the already-submitted PTI resignations and acceding to requests to delay their acceptance, so that a political solution could be negotiated.

Ultimately, the speaker maintained that unless he could personally verify each member’s intent to resign – as stipulated in Rule 43(2) B of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of the National Assembly, 2007 – he would not proceed.

Later, Sadiq informed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that he was unable to confirm the “genuineness” of the resignations submitted by legislators belonging to the PTI.