LAHORE: The opposition of Punjab is facing legal and constitutional issues to bring internal change and topple the government of Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi.
Opposition parties are strategizing to thwart PTI’s plan to dissolve provincial assemblies as announced by former prime minister Imran Khan to force fresh elections.
On 26 November, PTI Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan surprised many by announcing that his party had decided that it would no longer be part of the corrupt political system, and quit all assemblies. will
Reacting to his announcement, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said he would “not wait even a minute” to dissolve the provincial assembly if PTI chairman Imran Khan asked him to.
In view of the new developments, PDM parties today held a meeting to review the political situation to avoid dissolution of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assemblies.
Sources aware of the matter said that according to the constitution, a motion of no confidence cannot be presented against the Chief Minister of Punjab during the ongoing session of the Provincial Assembly. The meeting of the Provincial Assembly has been going on for the last four months.
To move a no-confidence motion against the chief minister, it is necessary to end the ongoing session of the House, sources said, adding, “It is the Speaker’s discretion to end the session.”
‘Alliance parties will consider all options’
While holding a press conference today, PML-N leader Atta Tarar said that the coalition parties will adopt all political and legal options to prevent the dissolution of the assemblies.
He expressed these views after the meeting of the Parliamentary Advisory Committee of Muslim League-N under the chairmanship of Hamza Shahbaz.
Referring to the petition filed by Hamza Shehbaz in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the election of PTI’s Sabtain Khan as Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, he requested the court to hear his case.
PML-N leader Uzma Zahid Bukhari said that Khan Sahib and Chief Minister Elahi cannot impose their decisions on Punjab.
Elahi dared to oppose the no-confidence motion.
In response to the opposition’s threat, the Chief Minister of Punjab dared the opposition to submit a no-confidence motion against him.
On Twitter, the Chief Minister said that PTI and Muslim League (Q) have majority in the House with 191 MPAs.
“No-confidence motion or governor’s rule cannot be imposed during the ongoing assembly session,” he added.
Reiterating his support for PTI, the Chief Minister said that he will dissolve the assembly whenever Khan says so.
He added that we have done all the work within the law and the constitution.
Opinions of the legal community
While almost all lawyers and legislative experts agree that a chief minister has the power to ask the governor to dissolve the provincial assembly, it is likely that at least in the case of Punjab The matter should reach the courts.
Journalist and lawyer Muneeb Farooq said: “Article 112 is quite straightforward: No chief minister against whom a no-confidence vote has been passed can advise the governor to dissolve the assembly.
In the case of the Punjab Assembly, no notification of no-confidence vote against Elahi was issued as the session had been going on for some time and had not been adjourned, hence the no-confidence motion was passed. – Trust is not offered. And, since the resolution has not been tabled, the notice has not been issued so technically the Chief Minister can dissolve the Assembly but it can go to court at the end of the day.”
“In any case, it is the power of the chief minister to ask the governor to dissolve the assembly – in which case the governor has only to do so,” said Supreme Court lawyer Salman Raja.
PLDAT President Ahmad Bilal Mehboob agreed that the constitution stipulates that the chief minister cannot dissolve the assembly if a no-confidence motion is pending.
