Governor Punjab asks CM Pervaiz Elahi to seek vote of confidence

LAHORE: Soon after the no-confidence motion was submitted, Governor Punjab Baligh ur Rehman directed Chief Minister (CM) Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to seek a vote of confidence from Punjab Assembly on December 21, ARY News reported on Monday.

According to details, the Governor Punjab has forwarded a letter to Chief Minister’s Secretariat, directing CM Pervaiz Elahi to seek a vote of confidence from Punjab Assembly on December 21.

In this regard, Governor Baligh ur Rehman has summoned a session of the provincial assembly for Wednesday, December 21, 2022, stated the order – shared on Twitter.

Governor Punjab summons session of Punjab Assembly for the Chief Minister Punjab to seek vote of confidence from Assembly on 21st December. pic.twitter.com/YpkR1NyMm6

— M Baligh Ur Rehman (@MBalighurRehman) December 19, 2022

Governor Punjab, in its order, said that the chief minister has “lost the confidence of his party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and members of his own party belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q)”.

“It is widely known that over the last few weeks serious differences of opinion erupted between two coalition parties of the ruling alliance in the Punjab Assembly i.e. PTI and PML-Q regarding political strategies, dissolution of the assembly, development schemes, and transfers of public officials,” it stated.

The order highlighted that the differences became evident after the appointment of a PTI member — namely Khayal Ahmed — to the provincial assembly without the knowledge of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

“The chief minister has stated in a TV programme on Dec 4 that he is not going to dissolve the provincial assembly until March 2023, a position which is completely at odds with the PTI’s public opinion on the issue,” the order stated.

The order also referred to CM Pervaiz Elahi’s criticism of Imran during an interview yesterday for the latter’s comments on former army chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa.

In this regard, Governor Punjab directed Elahi to seek vote of confidence and subsequently summoned a session on December 21 at 4pm under Section 130(7) of the Constitution.

Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) submitted no-trust motion against Punjab chief minister, speaker and deputy speaker to the provincial assembly’s secretariat.

While talking to ARY News, PML-N leader Khawaja Imran Nazir confirmed the development. He claimed that the opposition parties will give a good surprise to the people of Punjab.

He confirmed that the particulars related to the no-trust motion were received by the PA secretary. Nazir said that the no-confidence motion was submitted in accordance with the law after completing the required numbers.

Imran Khan to dissolve assemblies

The development came after Imran Khan announced to dissolve Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies on December 23.

The former premier announced the decision while addressing the nation alongside the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief ministers (CM), Pervaiz Elahi and Mahmood Khan, respectively.

Imran Khan thanked the two provincial chiefs for their cooperation with his party, and said he had consulted PTI’s lawyers about the move, adding that the Constitution did not allow elections to be delayed beyond 90 days of an assembly’s dissolution.

Giving details of PTI’s plan of action, the PTI chief said that after dissolving the assemblies, the party would prepare for elections. “We will go to National Assembly and demand with NA speaker to accept our resignations instead of picking a few,” he added.

The former prime minister said that a “lesson should be taught through elections” to the government and deal it “such a defeat that the names of these thieves are wiped out forever”.