Punjab Assembly to be dissolved if govt fails to complete numbers

LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly will be dissolved on April 6 if the government fails to complete numbers for Pervaiz Elahi, the nominated chief minister after Usman Buzdar’s resignation.

Important decisions are likely to be taken by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as Prime Minister Imran Khan is going to chair the political committee’s session today in which they will also finalise a strategy for the Punjab government.

The provincial assembly was scheduled to vote on April 3 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.

Pervaiz Elahi had said the session of the assembly was adjourned following an “attack” by the opposition MPAs on the treasury lawmakers. 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], Dawn reported.

Earlier, it was learnt that Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) leader Pervaiz Elahi had completed the homework to become Punjab chief minister after being nominated for the position by PM Khan.

Pervaiz Elahi had completed numbers for becoming the next Punjab CM, sources told News360, adding that the PML-Q leader asked the premier to proceed with forwarding Usman Buzdar’s resignation to the governor.

Sources had said that Pervaiz Elahi gathered the support of 22 lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly including 16 from Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), three Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and three Jahangir Tareen group of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).