ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf does not accept Sardar Ayaz Sadiq as the speaker of the National Assembly, he does not have the authority to accept or reject the resignations submitted by PTI’s lawmakers, PTI chief Imran Khan said on Friday.



He said he will visit the Election Commission of Pakistan to discuss the issue of resignations.



Sadiq is in office because of a stay order [on a petition pending with an election tribunal], Imran said. If PTI’s lawmakers do not want to remain in office, Sadiq cannot stop them from leaving, he said.



The government is trying to buy the loyalties of PTI members in the provincial and national assemblies, Imran said.



The PTI chief congratulated the nation on the recent decrease in prices of petroleum products and claimed credit for it. He said the PTI had raised the demand in its sit-ins. “We demand a decrease of Rs15 in the price of petrol,” he said.



The next demand is a decrease in the price of electricity, Imran said. “We will raise this issue at our next public gathering in Islamabad on November 20... It will be PTI’s largest public gathering so far.”



Imran criticised the government’s privatisation policy saying it will run the country’s assets to the ground.



He also urged women not to vote for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl in the next general elections. “I request women members of the PTI to spread this message far and wide. Women should not vote for the JUI-F considering the foul language the party leaders used against PTI’s women supporters,” Khan said.



Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2014.