Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, the chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab Assembly, was able to win a vote of confidence in a late-night drama, opening the way for the assembly’s dissolution at the request of ousted prime minister Imran Khan. CM of Punjab Parvez Elahi gets the trust vote.
Last month, the PMLN governor of Punjab Baligur Rehman asked CM Elahi for a vote of confidence in an effort to prevent the dissolution of the legislature. Elahi and his cabinet have been de-notified for disobeying his orders. However, Elahi and his government had been reinstated by the Lahore High Court.
The LHC convened a hearing on this matter on Wednesday and stated that the chief minister would need to take a vote of confidence.
In the light of the court’s observation, Elahi secured the required 186 votes from the Punjab Assembly in the ongoing session at 1 am Thursday amid the Opposition’s protest.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan presided over the session and said CM Elahi had received 186 votes required to secure the trust vote.
The Opposition led by the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) boycotted the session and announced challenging the trust vote procedure in the court.
Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah claimed that the Punjab Assembly session’s proceedings are against the rules and Constitution and the Opposition would challenge them in the LHC. He said CM Elahi secured 181 votes but showed it as 186. “We will prove this fraud in the court,” he said.
CM of Punjab Parvez Elahi gets the trust vote as Elahi termed securing the trust vote a victory of Imran Khan’s vision. He asked the Opposition to “accept the defeat gracefully”.
Talking to reporters outside the assembly, PTI senior leader Fawad Chaudhry said: “CM Elahi will send advice to the governor for dissolution of the assembly on the direction of Imran Khan. This advice may be sent to the governor today if no hurdle arises because of the court hearing”.
Fawad said Elahi would withdraw his petition from the high court regarding the governor’s order. He said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly, where Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has the government, will also be dissolved.
Establishment pressurising Parvez Elahi ahead of assemblies’ dissolution: Imran Khan
