84 PML-N MNA's to resign before Senate elections: Khawaja Asif

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), in tandem with the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), has stated that they will not permit the government to hold Senate elections in March, and in protest the PML-N’s 84 members will resign from the National Assembly.

PML-N veteran lawmaker and senior leader Khawaja Asif stated that “When this struggle (of the PDM) reaches its peak, our 84 MNAs will resign from the National Assembly and then we will see how the Senate polls are held”, adding that “the party lawmakers are standing with its leadership in this testing time”.

However, Asif nor any other leader from the PML-N has yet to comment on whether any resignations can be expected from the MNA’s of other parties, particularly from the PPP and JUI-F - prominent leadership figures in the opposition, and the PDM. Upon being asked about a collective strategy from the PDM, Asif spoke of his own party, stating that “let the time come; the opposition parties under the PDM banner will make a unanimous decision in this regard”.

Responding to the PML-N’s strategy to resign prior to the Senate elections, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill said in a tweet; “Maryam Safdar Sahiba — you have given the threat of resigning from the assemblies... why you wait till March, resign and we hold elections on the vacant seats. Imran Khan will not succumb to your threats”. Prime Minister Imran Khan has already announced that his government will hold by-polls if the opposition resigns from the assemblies.