The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) has withdrawn at least 44 resignations of its members of the National Assembly (MNAs) days after Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf accepted 70 other resignations.

The PTI had submitted 123 resignations en mass on April 9 when Imran Khan was removed in a vote of no confidence. The party believed that en mass resignation will force early elections in the country.

Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf accepted 9 of the 123 resignations in August and bypolls were held on these NA seats in October.

This month, Ashraf approved another 70 resignations in two installments shortly after PTI Chief Imran Khan hinted that he was planning to return to the National Assembly in an attempt to control the appointment of a caretaker government.

In Pakistan, elections are held under a caretaker government appointed in consultation with the outgoing prime minister and the opposition leader. The current opposition leader is Raja Riaz, a renegade PTI member, who with another 30 PTI MNAs refused to resign in April.

Imran Khan fears that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will hold consultations with Riaz to appoint the caretaker prime minister, tilting the balance against his party.

It was in this context that PTI’s Asad Umar announced on Monday that the party had withdrawn the remaining 44 resignations so that the MNAs could go back to the National Assembly to appoint a new leader of the opposition by removing Riaz.

“Since the speaker has not accepted all the resignations, under the instructions of the party chairman 44 MNAs have sent emails to the speaker National Assembly to withdraw their resignation. The next step would be the appointment of the opposition leader,” said Asad Umar in a tweet.

Chaudhry also shared a handwritten list of 44 names.

The PTI is already facing a difficult situation in Punjab where the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has appointed Mohsin Naqvi as the caretaker chief minister. He was nominated by the Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN).

In response, the PTI has announced that it will challenge the decision before the Supreme Court of Pakistan.