Claim: PTI MNA Najeeb Haroon resigned in response to the Gujranwala rally.
Fact: Najeeb Haroon resigned in April 2020 because he felt that he was unable to make the changes he would have liked to during his 20 months in office.
A tweet recently went viral on October 16, 2020, sharing a Geo News screenshot saying that PTI MNA Najeeb Haroon has handed in his resignation. The tweet uses this screenshot out of context to claim that Haroon resigned in response to the Gujranwala Rally.
The Gujranwala Rally is the first stop of an extensive anti-government campaign being organized by opposition parties who have joined together to form the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). The PDM consists of 11 political parties, including the PPP, PML-N and JUI-F, and they intend to depose the current PTI government. They plan to end their tour on December 13, with a large gathering in Lahore, in the hope that the PTI government will not be able to withstand a 3 month-long protest against its legitimacy. In this political atmosphere it is possible, and likely, that supporters on both sides may share false news about this new movement.
However, MNA Najeeb Haroon resigned earlier this year in April, not because of the Gujranwala rally.
Haroon announced his resignation on social media on April 18, 2020, explaining that he was not given the opportunity to bring about substantial change during his 20 months in office, therefore he felt like he could no longer justify his position in the National Assembly.
His exact Tweet read: “It’s with a heavy heart that I’ve tendered my resignation from the @NAofPakistan to PM @ImranKhanPTI,” he tweeted. “It’s been 20 months and have not been able to improve either my constituency nor my hometown #Karachi and in good conscience cannot justify being in this position.”
Summary: A tweet went viral, claiming that PTI MNA Najeeb Haroon resigned from his seat in response to the Gujranwala Rally being organized by the PDM on October 16th. However, Soch Fact Check discovered this to be false because the MNA had submitted his resignation earlier this year in April for not being given the opportunity to work on his constituency.
Research Associate: Areeba Fatima