LAHORE: A session of the Punjab Assembly (PA) was on Sunday adjourned till April 6 (Wednesday) without voting to elect the new leader of the house amid ruckus by opposition and government lawmakers.
The provincial assembly was to vote yesterday (Sunday) to elect the new leader of the house, with PML-Q’s PTI-backed Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz, who had secured the support of Jahangir Khan Tarin (JKT) group, expected to go head to head in the race to become the next chief minister.
Elahi said the session of the assembly was adjourned following an “attack” by the opposition MPAs on the treasury lawmakers.
“Our members went to the lawmakers who were elected on PTI tickets to bring them to their designated sitting area but in the meanwhile the other [opposition] side attacked them. The deputy speaker had no choice and he adjourned the session till April 6 at 11.30am,” Elahi told reporters outside the Punjab Assembly.
He blamed the opposition for causing a ruckus and disrupting the proceedings.
To a question about governor Punjab’s sacking, the PML-Q leader said he has had good relations with Sarwar since 2000, adding “I will not say anything about him.”
He insisted that the government had the numbers required [to elect a new chief minister].
Elahi said dissident PTI members Aleem Khan and Jahangir Tareen were now “lost and rudderless”, adding the latter “must now happily stay in London”.
He told journalists that the situation would get clear by April 6.
Ahead of yesterday’s Punjab Assembly session, the press gallery of the assembly was locked, barring journalists from covering the proceedings.
The PA session took place at the same time when a National Assembly session was to vote on a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. In the end, neither of the two votes took place as the no-trust move in the NA was dismissed by Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri, who deemed the resolution in contradiction of Article 5 of the Constitution.
PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique deemed the adjournment of the session “unconstitutional”.
Earlier, the federal government, in a surprise move, removed Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar from his post hours before the session of the provincial assembly. He was later replaced by Omar Sarfraz Cheema, PTI’s former information secretary.
The top ministerial slot of the largest province fell vacant with the acceptance of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar’s resignation by Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar on Friday.
The Punjab government had de-notified CM Buzdar after the acceptance of his resignation but in the same notification allowed him “to continue to hold office until his successor enters upon the office”. In an array of notifications, the provincial government had also denotified all the 37 provincial ministers, five advisers to the chief minister and five special assistants to the chief minister.
Buzdar had presented his resignation to Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 28 after a delegation of senior lawmakers had submitted a no-trust motion against him with Punjab Assembly Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti on the same day.
Following Buzdar’s resignation, the PTI had announced the PML-Q’s Chaudhry Pervez Elahi as its candidate for Punjab’s chief minister. The move had come as the ruling party had stepped up efforts to ensure the support of its allies ahead of a no-trust vote against the premier, against the backdrop of multiple PTI allies joining the opposition. The PML-Q, which is a crucial ally of the PTI government in Punjab and Centre, with 10 and five seats, respectively, had later confirmed its support for the ruling party.
Following PTI’s announcement, PML-N finalised the name of Hamza Shehbaz for the CM’s post after approval by party supremo Nawaz Sharif.
To be elected as chief minister, a candidate will need at least 186 votes in the 371-member house. In the Punjab Assembly, the PTI has 183 lawmakers, PML-Q 10, PML-N 165, PPP seven, five are independent and one belongs to Rah-i-Haq. –Agencies
