Punjab Assembly: Deputy speaker deprived of special powers

LAHORE: The special powers of the Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari have been taken back by the Secretariat after the issuance of a controversial order for the session today, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The special powers of the Punjab Assembly deputy speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari have been seized in accordance with the assembly regulations.

According to the assembly’s spokesperson, the session will be held on April 16 at 11:30 am, whereas, the secretariat issued an order regarding the seizure of the deputy speaker’s special powers.

READ: DOST MUHAMMAD MAZARI HOPES PUNJAB ASSEMBLY WILL MEET TODAY

The spokesperson said that yesterday’s ‘fake’ order for the Punjab Assembly session issued by the deputy speaker was in violation of the regulations as no diary number was mentioned on it.

It added that a diary number is necessary to notify such sensitive documents but the order was not prepared by the Punjab Assembly Secretariat nor issued it.

Earlier, the Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari has summoned the Punjab Assembly session today at 7:30 pm to elect the new chief minister of the province.

READ: PUNJAB ASSEMBLY: MARYAM NAWAZ ANNOUNCES TO ATTEND SESSION TODAY

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is a joint candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) while the joint opposition has fielded PML-N Vice President Hamza Shahbaz for the coveted seat.

On the other hand, the joint opposition decided to move a no-confidence motion against Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.

The political crisis in Punjab took a new turn after the ruling PTI moved a no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari as he decided to summon a session today, instead of April 16.

The PTI MPAs submitted a no-trust move against their party-backed deputy speaker to the secretary of the provincial assembly.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has decided to challenge the no-trust motion against the deputy speaker in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.