Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday described the move of National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to accept resignations of PTI lawmakers as an attempt to save leader of opposition Raja Riaz.
Earlier in the day, the speaker approved the resignations of 43 more PTI legislators, taking the tally to 124 as he had already accepted 81 resignations which were submitted in April last following the ouster of Imran Khan as prime minister through a no-confidence vote.
The Imran Khan-led party wanted to return to the assembly to replace Raja Riaz, a dissident PTI leader, as opposition leader and put Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to test through a no-confidence vote.
Taking to Twitter, the former information minister said 40 per cent of the NA seats were vacant owing to the steps taken by Mr Ashraf to protect Raja Riaz, adding that the country had reached closer to the elections. “Elections are the only solution to this crisis,” he said, adding that how long the government could evade the polls as it s the public that would decide through their votes.
He said the sole purpose behind PTI’s decision to return to the assembly was to remove Raja Riaz otherwise, the assembly had lost representations. He claimed that Shehbaz Sharif had lost majority and he was depending on turncoats to save his government.
