NA speaker accepts resignation of 34 PTI MNAs.

The Election Commission of Pakistan on Tuesday (ECP) de-notified 34 PTI MNAs after their resignations were accepted by National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

The PTI had resigned en masse from the lower house of parliament following the ouster of PTI chief Imran Khan in April last year. Subsequently, the NA speaker had accepted only 11 of the resignations, stating that the remaining lawmakers would be summoned individually for verification.

The notification issued by the electoral watchdog today, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, stated that the lawmakers were de-notified 'with immediate effect'.

The de-notified lawmakers include Murad Saeed, Omar Ayub Khan, Asad Qaiser, Pervaiz Khattak, Imran Khattak, Sheharyar Afridi, Ali Amin Khan, Noorul Haq Qadri, Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, Ali Nawaz Awan, Asad Umar, Sadaqat Ali Khan, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Sheikh Rashid Shafique, Mansoor Hayat Khan, Fawad Ahmed, Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel, Hammad Azhar, Shafqat Mahmood, Malik Muhammad Amir Dogar, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Zartaj Gul, Faheem Khan, Saifur Rehman, Muhammad Alamgir Khan, Syed Ali Haider Zaidi, Aftab Hussain Saddique, Ataullah, Aftab Jehangir, Muhammad Aslam Khan, Muhammad Najeeb Haroon and Qasim Khan Suri.

Two PTI lawmakers elected on reserve seats - Aliya Hamza Malik and Kanwal Shauzab - were also de-notified.

In addition to the 34 PTI lawmakers, the ECP also de-notified Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

Late on Tuesday night, PTI's Fawad Chaudhry said the party would contest the polls on all the seats vacated, adding that ex-premier Imran would be the party's candidate on 33 seats.

'Plan for ousting govt to be completed in a few weeks'

The de-notification of the lawmakers comes days after PTI chief Imran stated that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would be 'tested' through a confidence vote in a tit-for-tat move similar to the one he himself had faced as the premier in April.

With PTI dissident Raja Riaz holding the parliamentary party leader's position in the National Assembly, PTI fears that he may decide to vote in favour of the prime minister if President Dr Arif Alvi asks Shehbaz Sharif to take the trust vote.

Raja Riaz leads the group of PTI MNAs who did not tender their resignations when the party decided to quit the assembly in the aftermath of Imran's ouster.

In a meeting with media persons at his Zaman Park residence on Monday, Imran said planning and consultations with party leaders as well as legal...