Punjab at centre of political tug of war

LAHORE:

Punjab descended into further turmoil on Wednesday as Governor Balighur Rehman rejected the ruling of Speaker Sibtain Khan that the former’s order for Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to obtain a fresh vote of confidence from the assembly was “illegal” because a new session could not be convened until the current one was prorogued.

Earlier, Punjab Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Basharat Raja had said that Speaker Sibtain had sent a letter to President Alvi for the removal Governor Rehman. He added that under Article 101(3), the president had the authority to remove the governor.

On Monday, Governor Rehman directed Chief Minister Elahi to seek a vote of confidence on December 21.

The governor’s direction came after the opposition parties – Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – filed a no-confidence motion against Elahi in a bid to forestall the dissolution of the assembly.

However, Speaker Sibtain on Tuesday adjourned the sitting until Friday, instead of Wednesday as directed by the governor. The speaker said that the governor’s letter, asking the chief minister to seek a vote of confidence was against the assembly rules, as well as the Constitution.

“The provincial assembly of Punjab is already in session having been summoned by the speaker on a requisition by the members of the assembly on October 23 ...” the speaker’s ruling said. “Until and unless the current session is prorogued, the governor cannot summon any fresh session.”

The speaker also cited a Lahore High Court (LHC) ruling in the Manzoor Wattoo case, suggesting that there was a minimum limit of 10 days, which must be provided to the chief minister to obtain the vote of confidence from the assembly.

Responding to the ruling, the governor rejected the speaker's assertion.

“The speaker should not take into consideration personal preference for fulfilling the constitutional responsibility,” the governor said in a three-page letter to the speaker.

“Your ruling is in violation of Rule 209 of the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, 1997,” the letter said, adding that a ruling on interpretation of the constitutional clause could only be given on a 'point of order' but no point of order was raised on the floor on Tuesday.

He also reminded the speaker that his reference to the LHC judgment was “misplaced inasmuch as the facts and circumstances involved in this judgment are clearly distinguishable”.

Unlike the previous situation, the government added, the current chief minister was fully functional, and not under suspension.

Throughout the day, Punjab remained in the grip of uncertainty, as Chief Minister Elahi did not take the vote of confidence, as asked by the governor.

The federal government also changed the Punjab inspector general of police and called in paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers in Lahore. According to a notification, Aamir Zulfiqar Khan, had been appointed the new Punjab IG.

The development came as President Arif Alvi dashed to Lahore and met Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan at his Zaman Park residence for consultation on the political turmoil in the province.

Alvi also apprised Imran of his meetings with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and other federal ministers recently.

Consultation among the provincial opposition parties for de-notifying Elahi as the chief minister will take place today (Thursday), sources said.

After consultation with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the sources said, the governor will take the final decision regarding the de-notification.

Interior Minsiter Rana Sanaullah had said on Tuesday night that if the vote of confidence did not take place, Elahi would cease to hold the office.

The latest situation has emerged in the wake of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s announcement last week, that the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies would be dissolved on Friday, December 23 in order to force the federal government to call early general elections in the country.

Talking to a delegation of local lawyers at his Zaman Park residence, the PTI chairman stressed that dissolution of assemblies, where the party was in government, was their constitutional right.

He backed Speaker Sibtain’s ruling on the matter, saying that Governor Rehman’s order to the chief minister was illegal.

“The country cannot progress until there is a rule of law,” he said. “The system of justice must be restored in the society to get out of the slavery of America. For that all institutions must work within their limits. It is our constitutional right to dissolve the assemblies.”

During the meeting, Imran received a briefing from lawyers on the legal aspects of the Punjab governor’s move. The lawyers said that a judicial decision regarding the dissolution of the assembly and the governor’s initiative was quite clear in the Wattoo case.

Earlier, addressing a news conference, senior PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry stated that Chief Minister Elahi would not be seeking the vote of no confidence on Wednesday, warning the Punjab governor to "refrain" from taking any illegal steps.

Also addressing the media men in Lahore, Hammad Azhar, another senior PTI leader, announced that the party supporters would stage a power show outside the Governor House in the provincial capital at 5pm on Thursday (today).

“[PTI] Chairman Imran Khan has decided that the party will hold a gathering outside the Governor House. We will not let anyone take unconstitutional steps,” Azhar said, asking supporters and workers of the PTI to attend the gathering, which would be addressed by the party chief.

Fawad said the PTI and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) – the party of Chief Minister Elahi – had the required numbers in the Punjab Assembly to foil the opposition's no-confidence vote, as well as the required strength to win a confidence vote for Elahi.

Fawad alleged that PPP Co-chairperson Asif Zardari was offering Rs50 million each to women parliamentarians of the PTI to buy their loyalties.

“The PTI members are also being threatened to abstain from the Punjab Assembly session in which the no-trust motion will be presented.”
Meanwhile, Elahi said in a tweet on Wednesday that his party stood “wholeheartedly” with the PTI.

He expressed his trust in the PTI chief, maintaining that the “nefarious intentions” of those propagating differences would fail.

Elahi, who had summoned a meeting of the Punjab cabinet on Thursday (today) to deliberate on important issues, also said that his party was united and would remain united. “Rumour mongers are following a specific agenda,” he added.

On the vote of confidence or even on the vote of no-confidence, each side would have to show 186 votes in the house of 297. Currently, the PTI has 177 while the PML-Q has 10, making the total of 187. On the other hand, the opposition has a combined strength of 176 members.

Speaking to the media after a meeting at the Governor House, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Ata Tarar slammed the chief minister for “escaping from the vote of confidence”. He claimed that the PTI lacked the numbers for keeping Elahi in the office.