Bureau Report
LAHORE: Punjab Assembly session for the election of a new chief minister of the province has been summoned on April 16 instead of April 6 now.
The notification for holding the session on April 16 was issued after Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari approved the order.
According to details, the session has been delayed because lawmakers, on April 4, vandalised and damaged the building. They added that the deputy speaker delayed the session as time was required to repair the damage done.
On this basis, the session will now be held at 11:30am on April 16.
On Sunday, following the decision of the Deputy Speaker of National Assembly Qasim Suri to adjourn the NA session for an indefinite period, the Punjab Assembly session had also been adjourned till April 6 (Wednesday).
The Opposition was hopeful of electing PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz as the new chief minister of Punjab; however, following Prime Minister Imran Khan’s “surprise” regarding assembly dissolution, the announcement regarding the postponement was made.
The Punjab Assembly session lasted nearly six minutes following which the decision was made; however, the party members got into a heated argument.
The prized slot of Punjab fell vacant after the resignation of Sardar Usman Buzdar following a deal between the ruling PTI and PML-Q a few days back.
Both candidates need at least 186 votes in the House of 371 to win the poll for the slot of CM Punjab.
With the full House comprising 371 MPAs, PML-N seems highly optimistic about regaining the crown of Punjab that it lost in 2018.
The Opposition claims that its joint strength comprising its own 160 MPAs (PML-N total strength is 165 out of which five MPAs are siding with the government), seven MPAs of PPP and the rest from the rebel groups of PTI headed by Jehangir Khan Tareen (JKT) and Abdul Aleem Khan and four out of five independents, stands above 188.
On the other hand, the ruling coalition candidate has also used his experience and influence in winning the support of JKT group MPAs and publicly, MPA Rafaqat Gilani, a part of the JKT group has claimed that he was “siding with Imran and cannot leave him in crucial time”.
Ahead of Sunday’s events, the nomination papers of Parvez Elahi and Hamza Shehbaz were accepted.
Whenever the polling will take place, Deputy Speaker Mazari will preside over the PA session.
