PTI to ‘immediately’ table no-confidence against Mazari

A day after the Supreme Court struck down Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari’s contentious ruling on Punjab chief minister’s election, the PTI on Wednesday decided to “immediately” bring a no-confidence motion against the deputy speaker.

The party also finalised the name of former provincial minister for forestry, wildlife and fisheries Sibtain Khan for the Punjab Assembly speaker’s post.

The PTI core committee met under the chairmanship of Imran Khan on Wednesday.

The meeting was attended by former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and PTI leaders Fawad Chaudhry, Imran Ismail, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Shireen Mazari and others.

The huddle decided to “immediately” bring a no-confidence motion against Mazari.

While referring to the Sharifs and Zardari, the PTI chairman said that the “gang of thieves” had brought the country to the brink of destruction in three months.

“People have woken up. They had given their verdict in the (Punjab) by-polls. The Supreme Court supported the truth according to the Constitution and law,” he said.

The PTI chairman will visit Lahore on Thursday (today) and grant approval to the provincial cabinet.

The post of assembly speaker had fallen vacant after the apex court on Tuesday ordered Elahi’s oath-taking as Punjab chief minister.

Following the verdict, PML-N's Hamza Shahbaz was removed from office with immediate effect and the Punjab cabinet was dissolved. The court also declared all the appointments carried out under Hamza's rule as null and void.

Separately, the newly sworn-in Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi called on Imran at his Bani Gala residence in Islamabad on Wednesday.

The former premier felicitated him on being appointed to the coveted slot.

Pervaiz’s son Moonis and his cousin Hussain Elahi and PTI spokesperson Shahbaz Gill were also present on the occasion.

The crucial meeting discussed forming Punjab's cabinet and other aspects of governance.

The participants agreed to name Sibtain for the slot of Punjab Assembly speaker, saying the former provincial minister was “humble” and would “take everyone on board”.

Meanwhile, a joint meeting of PML-N Punjab Parliament Advisory Committee and its allies to mull over the Punjab Assembly speaker’s issue was held under the chairmanship of former provincial chief Hamza at the party’s secretariat in Model Town, Lahore.

According to sources, the advisory committee presented the names of Rana Iqbal, Sardar Awais Leghari and Malik Nadeem Kamran for the key post.

Leghari is considered to be the “hot favourite” for the speakership.

The final approval to the name for the PA speaker will be given by the party’s leadership.

The meeting also mulled over a strategy in case the no-confidence vote against Mazari is successful and decided that the PML-N would decide a new candidate for the post in consultations with its allies.