Crisis deepens as two separate Punjab Assembly sessions summoned

LAHORE: Political crisis in Punjab deepened as Governor Punjab Baligh Ur Rehman and provincial assembly speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi summoned separate sessions for presentation of budget for next fiscal year 2022-23, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

According to details, the first session of the Punjab Assembly after the election of Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz was once again postponed as deadlock persisted between the provincial government and the opposition.

Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has summoned the budget session tomorrow (Wednesday) at 1 pm. Meanwhile, Governor Baligh Ur Rehman convened the session in Aiwan-e-Iqbal at 3 pm tomorrow.

Earlier in the day, a number of PML-N leaders and provincial ministers have recommended postponing the budget session until the next month after the government and opposition’s negotiations hit a deadlock.

According to details, PML-N leaders and provincial ministers have suggested postponing the Punjab Assembly’s budget session until the by-elections on the 20 vacated seats of PTI MPAs.

The Chief Minister (CM) Punjab has also decided to not present the Inspector General Police (IG) and Chief Secretary Punjab in the assembly over the entrance of police in the assembly on the occasion of CM elections.

A day earlier, the Punjab Assembly session was postponed without the presentation of the budget for the fiscal year 2022-23.

The budget session was scheduled to begin at 2pm but started after several hours of delay. The opposition demanded an apology from Punjab Inspector-General (IG) and chief secretary.

Once the session started, the proceedings were abruptly halted as Speaker Pervaiz Elahi objected to the presence of Punjab government spokesperson Ata Tarar inside the hall. He ordered leader Ata Tarar to leave the assembly hall.

However, Elahi once again demanded the chief secretary and the IG to appear before the house, saying that the “under no condition” budget could be presented without the duo’s apology.