CM Elahi has signed summary to dissolve Punjab Assembly, says Fawad

Former information minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry announced Thursday that Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi has dissolved the provincial assembly, adding that a summary in this regard has been sent to Governor Baligh Ur Rehman, Aaj News reported.

He said the assembly will stand dissolved within 48 hours as per the rule even if a notification is not issued by the governor.

Fawad also said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly would be dissolved “day after tomorrow”.

He said that the country was headed towards general elections, adding that the PTI and Imran had “fulfilled their promise”.

The development comes after Parvez Elahi met former premier and PTI Chairman Imran at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore. The decision to dissolve the provincial assembly was decided in the meeting.

The meeting came a day after CM Elahi obtained a vote of confidence from the provincial assembly to prove his majority in the house.

Speaker PA Sibtain Khan, who presided over the session, declared that the trust motion in favour of CM Elahi received 186 votes - the exact number required to prove his majority in the house.

Following the development, Punjab Governor Baligh Ur Rehman repealed his order of de-notification of CM Elahi and apprised the Lahore High Court (LHC), where Elahi's petition against his order was being heard by a larger bench.

The court stated that Elahi’s vote of confidence should satisfy the governor and decided not to intervene in the matter.

In response to the development, Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that the people of Punjab have long waited to get rid of the PTI government, which was imposed after the PML-N's mandate was stolen in 2018.

"You had set out to end the federal government but celebrating after abolishing your own government," he said.

PML-N Senator Afnan Ullah Khan said that "Gogi, Panki, and Niazi's rule over Punjab is going to end."

He said PML-N will come to power in Punjab with a clear majority, adding the development cycle that stopped in 2017 will resume again.

Vote of confidence

On Wednesday, the session started with a delay of two hours amid a ruckus in the provincial assembly for the third consecutive day with opposition lawmakers – led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) - chanting slogans against CM Elahi, urging him to take a vote of confidence. They also tore agenda copies and vowed not to let the session progress until their demand was met.

Establishment doesn’t appear to be neutral in Elahi’s vote of confidence: Imran Khan

A few hours later, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi arrived at the Punjab Assembly. With him in attendance, Speaker Sibtain Khan convened a new session shortly after midnight with a vote of confidence on the agenda.

As the session resumed, the speaker ordered bells to be rung for five minutes, following which the assembly hall and lobby were closed for new entrants.

Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Raja Basharat then tabled the resolution of the trust vote on CM Punjab.

The opposition MPAs gathered around the speaker’s dais and tore agenda copies in a bid to sabotage the process. However, the speaker asked the secretary PA to initiate the counting process.

With defeat imminent, the opposition then announced the boycott of the session proceedings and walked out of the house.