ISLAMABAD - Taking a U-turn on his resignation as Member National Assembly, which he had announced at a public rally in Lahore on January 17, Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has said that he has deferred it on the advice of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan.
Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club, Rashid said that he was all set to submit his resignation but deferred the plan for a few days on the advice of the PTI chief. “I was ready to resign but Imran Khan advised me to wait for seven to eight days,” he said.
When his attention was drawn to a statement of the National Assembly Speaker that he would even accept his resignation on a phone call, he smilingly said that “he was not a kid to be entrapped by Sardar Ayaz Sadiq”.
He said that he knew that resignation after January 28 would block the way of holding by-elections on the vacated seat.
H said that he did not see general elections this year for many reasons which he did not share.
Addressing a public rally organized by the Pakistan Awami Tehreek in Lahore, Rasheed had announced to resign as an MNA by hurling a curse on the parliament. But soon after the event, he flew to Dubai, which invited scathing criticism from his opponents.
The National Assembly had also adopted a resolution against him and Khan for cursing the parliament. The AML chief dared to reiterate his remarks about the parliament and came up with a fresh curse.
He criticized the Sharif family for trying to make state institutions controversial adding that they (Sharifs) could go to any extent for saving their ill-gotten wealth.
Calling Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif equally corrupt, he said that people would see that corruption of Shahbaz would surmount the corruption of his elder brother Nawaz Sharif.
To a question, he blamed the government for conspiring against the finality of Prophethood (PBUH) in the parliament. He said that the issue needed to be handled transparently so that the real faces behind the conspiracy could be exposed.
To another question, he said that he saw no elections in 2018 and in case elections were held, he would contest on both the seats of the National Assembly from Rawalpindi.