‘PM Shehbaz to seek vote of confidence if President orders’

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Special Assistant Attaullah Tarar said that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif will seek a vote of confidence from National Assembly if President Arif Alvi orders it, ARY News reported on Saturday.

In a statement, the special assistant claimed that PM Shehbaz has the requisite number to secure a vote of confidence from National Assembly.

Speaking of dissolution of Punjab Assembly, Attaullah Tarar said that the dissolution would be carried out without any obstacles.

“We will not challenge the dissolution of Punjab Assembly,” he said, adding that the party has started preparations for the election while suitable candidates would be shortlisted in this regard.

“We will fight the election with full preparation”, he said, adding that it is premature to say whether they would jointly contest the elections with allied parties.

The development comes two days after Chief Minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi sent summary to Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman seeking dissolution of the provincial assembly.

In a brief one-line advice addressed to Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman, Elahi said: “I Parvez Elahi, chief minister of Punjab, hereby advise you to dissolve the provincial assembly.”.

Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi obtained vote of confidence from Punjab Assembly during a special session of the provincial assembly in the wee hours of Thursday.

Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan chaired the session in which PTI leader and Member Punjab Assembly Mian Aslam Iqbal tabled a resolution expressing confidence in the Chief Minister.

As per details, 186 members of ruling coalition reposed confidence in leadership of Chief Minister while opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) boycotted the session.