Pervaiz Elahi not to remain Punjab CM after midnight deadline

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi will not remain Punjab Chief Minister after midnight as he has opted not to take a vote of confidence from the provincial assembly as directed by Governor Balighur Rehman, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

According to sources, Pervaiz Elahi will become former chief minister after 12:00 am as per the constitution after he defied the Punjab Governor's orders.  

The Punjab Governor in his order of December 19 had directed the chief minister to take a vote of confidence from the assembly on December 21 as Pervaiz Elahi, in his words, had lost the confidence of the majority of the House. 

PA Speaker Sibtain Khan, however, had said on Tuesday that the governor’s order was illegal and unconstitutional and he had decided not to issue a gazette notification regarding the convening of the assembly session at 4:00 pm today.

There was no activity at the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday at 4:00 pm which was clearly in defiance of the governor’s directive.

In a related development, several containers have been placed outside the CM’s Office at 8-Club Road of Lahore.

Earlier, Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman has rejected a letter written by provincial assembly speaker Sibtain Khan regarding the constitutional deadlock, reported 24NewsHD TV channel, quoting its sources.

The sources further revealed that the Punjab governor chaired an important meeting at the Governor’s House in Lahore and decided to issue a reminder asking Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi to take vote of confidence from the Punjab Assembly today (Wednesday).

The sources confided to 24News TV channel that if the Punjab chief minister opted not to take vote of confidence then the governor would order sealing of the Punjab CM secretariat.

Everyone is watching with bated breath whether Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi will take vote of confidence in Punjab Assembly as Governor Balighur Rehman has required him to obtain today. 

But contrary to the governor’s directions, Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan has not summoned the session of the house yet.

The Punjab Assembly Secretariat has not issued the gazette notification for the assembly session. 

However, the opposition parties in the Punjab Assembly have prepared their strategy. 

Sources said that Members of Punjab Assembly belonging to PML-N, PPP, Rah-e-Haq Party and independent members would reach assembly at 4pm. 

The PML-N leaders were of the view that if the CM eschewed trust vote, they would give surprise to the Punjab government. 

They said if chief minister did not seek confidence vote, he would cease to hold office. 

Sources revealed that the Governor House would become a hub of political activities in the evening today in case the PTI-PMLQ government did not hold trust vote. 

Governor Balighur Rehman has given ruling to the PA speaker to summon the house session and asked the chief minister to seek vote of confidence from the house members today. 

Sibtain termed the governor’s order illegal, saying: “The instructions are against the Constitution and Rules of Procedure.”

He said the assembly was already in session and until and unless the current session is prorogued, the governor could not summon any fresh session.

As per a Lahore High Court verdict, the matter of confidence in the chief minister could only be determined in a session that was specially summoned for this purpose. The governor could not summon this special session while the current session was ongoing, the speaker added. 

On the other hand, interior Minister Rana Sanaullah warned on Tuesday that if the PA speaker did not comply with the Punjab governor’s directions regarding summing of the assembly session in a bid to stall the trust vote, the governor would de-notify the chief minister and the latter would cease to hold office. 

“The Punjab Assembly speaker’s point of view that the assembly is in session, so the chief minister cannot be asked to obtain a vote of confidence is incorrect. If CM Elahi fails to take vote of confidence, he will be no longer the chief minister of the province,” he maintained.

Pervaiz Elahi calls PML-Q parliamentary party meeting today

Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has also called a meeting of the parliamentary party of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

According to the PML-Q sources, the meeting will be held in the Chief Minister’s office this afternoon.

The current political situation that emerged after the submission of a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi will be discussed in the meeting.

The meeting will also decide the future strategy of the party in the current political scenario.

It is to be noted here that the opposition parties in Punjab had submitted a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi before the possible dissolution of assemblies at behest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.

Reporters Umar Aslam and Faseehullah