PDM submits no-confidence motion against chief minister Punjab

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Monday submitted a no-confidence motion against Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, a development that comes two days after PTI Chairman Imran Khan announced that his governments in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will dissolve their assemblies on December 23 (Friday), Aaj News reported.

The no-confidence motion was submitted by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly Secretariat.

Separately, a no-trust motion has also been submitted against PA Speaker Sibtain Khan under Article 53 of the Constitution.

Last month, addressing thousands of supporters in his first public appearance since being shot in an assassination attempt, Imran said that it was better to quit assemblies than “be a part of a corrupt system”.

“We will not be part of this system. We have decided to quit all the assemblies and get out of this corrupt system,” said Imran.

Imran has campaigned for snap polls since being ousted from power in a parliamentary vote in April, which has seen heightened political uncertainty in the South Asian nation even as it struggles to stave off financial default.

Imran's party controls two of the country's four provincial assemblies. The other two are controlled by his political opponents, who also control the federal government under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and who have said they will not hold national and local polls before they are due in November 2023.

The PTI chief, who was injured in an apparent assassination bid last month, said he was "sacrificing" his two provincial governments for the sake of the country's future.

He added that elections in the two provinces would mean holding polls in 66% of the country, and so the government might as well hold general elections.

Last week, CM Elahi accompanied by former Federal Minister Moonis Elahi and MNA Hussain Elahi met Imran Khan at Zaman Park. During the meeting, matters pertaining to the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly came under consultation.

Elahi, while talking on the occasion, stated that his party would support every decision of Imran. He clarified that the Punjab Assembly was a trust given by Imran, adding that he would return this trust to him.

Earlier on Monday, Imran claimed that Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi was under pressure from the establishment.

"Parvez Elahi takes the establishment's pressure on himself. However, I am convinced that the chief minister would dissolve the Punjab assembly on my instructions," Imran said while speaking with his party’s provincial assembly members from Sargodha, Khushab, and Jhang.

Punjab governor asks Elahi to seek vote of confidence

Soon after the resolution was submitted, Punjab Governor Baligh ur Rehman directed CM Elahi to seek a vote of confidence from the assembly on December 21.

In his order, the governor said that the chief minister has “lost the confidence of his party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and members of his own party belonging to the PML-Q”.

“It is widely known that over the last few weeks serious differences of opinion erupted between two coalition parties of the ruling alliance in the Punjab Assembly i.e. PTI and PML-Q regarding political strategies, dissolution of the assembly, development schemes, and transfers of public officials,” it stated.

For months, the federal government under PM Shehbaz has maintained that the next general elections will be held on time.

Punjab, controlled by Imran's PTI party, is the country's most populous province and makes up nearly half of the country's population of 220 million.

Historically, polls for the federal and provincial governments are held at the same time in a general election every five years.

If the two provincial assemblies are dissolved earlier, separate polls would have to be held for them within 90 days, which could throw up legal problems.