Punjab Assembly (PA) Speaker Sibtain Khan disposed on Tuesday Governor Balighur Rehman’s order requiring Chief Minister Parvez Elahi to obtain a vote of confidence from the house, saying that the instructions were “against the Constitution and Rules of Procedure”.
The speaker also adjourned the PA session till December 23 — the same day PTI plans to dissolve the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
On Saturday, PTI Chairman Imran Khan announced that his governments in the two provinces will dissolve their assemblies on Friday to pave the way for fresh elections.
Subsequently, following days of hectic politicking, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance sprang its own trap on Monday to limit the options available to Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi.
In a double-edged move, Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman had asked the chief minister to obtain a vote of confidence from the PA on Wednesday (tomorrow), while PML-N and PPP lawmakers submitted a separate no-trust resolution against him in a bid to bar him from dissolving the assembly.
Under the law, the chief minister cannot dissolve the assembly if a no-confidence motion has been moved against him, while the governor’s requirement for the chief minister to seek a vote of confidence from the house means he has to ensure that he manages to secure 186 votes on Wednesday.
However, in a ruling during today’s PA session, Sibtain said that the assembly was “already in session” and “until and unless the current session is prorogued, the governor cannot summon any fresh session.”
