ISLAMABAD: PTI leader Asad Umar said on Monday that 44 party lawmakers have decided to withdraw their resignations from the National Assembly and emails in this regard have been sent to Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

The decision, he said, was taken on orders of PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan after the speaker refused to accept all the resignations together.

“The next step will be the nomination of the opposition leader,” Umar tweeted.

The lawmakers who have decided to withdraw their resignations shared by Umar include Muhammad Riaz Khan, Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh, Shaheen Niaz, Nasarullah Dareshar, Zulfiqar Ali Khan, Nafeesa Inayat Khan, Malik Anwar, Saleh Mohammad, Jai Parkash, Tahir Sadiq, Niaz Ahmed, Raza Nasarullah, Javed Iqbal, Munaza Hasan, Lal Chand Malhi, Sajida Zulfiqar, Sardar Muhammad Khan, Uzma Riaz, Tashfeen Safadar, Jawad Hussain and Nausheen Hamid.

Meanwhile, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said 45 lawmakers had decided to withdraw their resignations so that the party could take back the posts of the leader of the opposition and parliamentary party leader.

He added that the aim of the move was to get rid of the “fake” NA opposition leader and prevent “turncoats” from voting for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the vote of confidence.

After Umar’s announcement, PTI lawmakers gathered outside the NA speaker’s house, demanding that their requests should be immediately accepted.

As many as 123 PTI MNAs had resigned en masse from the lower house of parliament following the ouster of PTI chief Imran Khan in April last year.

Subsequently, NA speaker Ashraf accepted only 11 of the resignations, stating that the remaining lawmakers would be summoned individually for verification.

After stalling the process for eight months, Ashraf last week, accepted the resignations of 69 more PTI MNAs and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid as the party hinted it would “test” the incumbent prime minister with a confidence vote. The total number of PTI MNAs whose resignations have been accepted stands at 80 so far.