PML-N members submit no-trust move against Punjab Assembly speaker

Islamabad: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Thursday submitted a no-trust motion against Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, who is also in the race for chief minister’s office in the province.

The opposition members submitted the motion in reaction to what they termed ‘illegal’ and ‘unconstitutional’ steps taken by Elahi in his capacity as Speaker of the Assembly, like sealing the gates of the Assembly with barbed wires and turning the entire building into ‘no-go area’ in a bid to prevent Hamza Sharif’s election.

Elahi, they said, had lost the confidence of the majority of the members of the provincial assembly, and therefore, did not deserve to be the chief executive of the province.

His rival, Hamza, in a mock session attended by the Opposition got ‘elected’ to the office of Chief Minister.

Since the assembly’s building was sealed the session was held on the rooftop of a hotel in Lahore.

As many as 199 members of the assembly who attended the symbolic session voted in favour of Hamza.

In order to become chief minister, a member is required to get 186 votes of the Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs) in the 371-member Assembly.

Maryam congratulates Hamza

The mock-election was also attended by the daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and vice president of the party, Maryam Nawaz. She even accompanied the MPAs from one hotel to another in a bus for the mock election.

Taking to Twitter, she expressed solidarity with the opposition leader and congratulated him on ‘becoming chief minister’ of the province. “Hamza Shehbaz Sharif with 199 votes elected as Chief Minister Punjab. Shukar Alhamdolillah,” she said.

Chief Justice Supreme Court Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday, while hearing a case against Deputy Speaker of National Assembly’s ‘controversial’ ruling also referred to the political situation in Punjab saying the Lahore High Court is the right forum to look into the matter.

It all began in a bizarre turn of events starting from Tuesday night when Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly Dost Muhammad Mazari changed his earlier decision of calling the assembly session on April 16 and instead summoned the sitting of the assembly for April 6.

Vacuum created in Punjab

Mazari is of the view that a vacuum had been created in the province since Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had resigned. “Since the province’s affairs are not being run smoothly, it is high time a CM is elected,” he added.

In a tweet, Dost Mazari said he had taken oath to be loyal to the Parliament and the constitution and it was his oath that he upheld even though it might cost him deputy-speakership.

Pervaiz ‘trying’ to prevent election of CM

Speaker and the ruling coalition’s candidate Elahi sprang into action over the sudden change of heart by his deputy and first withdrew all the powers he had granted him for chairing a session of the Punjab Assembly and later, directed the assembly secretariat not to issue notification as per the deputy speaker’s directions.

In another development that followed shortly after, the PML-Q and PTI provincial lawmakers submitted a no-confidence motion against their own Deputy Speaker Mazari to snatch his powers to preside over a session and demanded his removal. Pervaiz also directed the assembly staff to seal all the four gates of the assembly and make sure no one could enter the building on April 6.