The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) says that Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman will denotify Chief Minister Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi if he does not take a vote of confidence from the provincial assembly on Wednesday.
On Monday, the escalating showdown between the PTI-PML-Q provincial government and the PDM came to a head after PPP and PML-N lawmakers submitted a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi in a bid to forestall the dissolution of the provincial assembly.
The resolution was immediately followed by an order from the Punjab governor directing the chief minister to seek a vote of confidence from the assembly on December 21 — dealing a blow to the PTI’s plans to disband the legislature on Friday (Dec 23).
Chief Whip of PML-N Khalil Tahir Sindhu said on Tuesday that PML-N lawmakers would be present in the provincial assembly at 4:00 PM, the time notified by the governor for the session on December 21.
He said that the session called by the governor was according to the rules of the House and the Constitution, and that the chief minister would have to take a vote of confidence at any cost.
He said that Pervaiz Elahi would lose his position as the head of the Punjab government if he fails to do so.
According to Express News, an important consultative meeting of the PML-N and its allies was held on Tuesday to discuss the matters related to the session summoned by the Punjab governor, requiring the chief minister to seek vote of confidence from the legislature.
Also read: No-trust moved in Punjab Assembly
The huddle was held after Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan reportedly declared the governor’s summons as illegal. The speaker, who belongs to the PTI, maintained that the session for confidence vote cannot be summoned while the House is in session.
However, the opposition parties decided that the governor would issue a notification for election of new Punjab chief minister if the assembly session is not held tomorrow and the chief minister does not take the vote of confidence.
Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, Malik Ahmed Khan, Tariq Bashir Cheema, Chaudhry Salik Hussain and Aun Chaudhry attended the meeting.
The participants were of the view that Pervaiz Elahi cannot continue as the chief minister if he did not obtain vote of confidence tomorrow.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Interior Minister Sanaullah said that the Punjab Assembly speaker stance on session is against the Constitution.
“The governor can summon the assembly session whether the House is in session or not. Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi will not be able to continue if he does not take vote of confidence tomorrow,” he added.
He said CM Elahi himself was not in favour of dissolving the assembly. “What would have happened if the no-confidence motion was not tabled.” he questioned.
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