Punjab governor declares PA speaker’s order on vote of confidence ‘unconstitutional’

Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman termed on Wednesday the ruling of Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan regarding Chief Minister Pervez Elahi’s vote of confidence “unconstitutional and illegal.”

The tussle between the government and the opposition continues to deepen since PTI Chairman Imran Khan announced the dissolution of the assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Dec 23, with the PML-N and allies deliberating on ways to prevent the move.

On Monday, the Punjab governor issued an order, calling a fresh session of the provincial assembly and requiring Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi to obtain a vote of confidence.

The governor said Elahi had lost the confidence of PML-Q head Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and party members, adding there were also reports of a confrontation between the PTI and PML-Q on various issues.

However, on Tuesday, Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan called Governor Balighur Rehman’s move for calling a fresh session of the provincial assembly illegal.

The Punjab Assembly Speaker maintained that the governor cannot call a fresh session when the previous one is already going on. The ongoing session was called by the speaker and it could not be ended by the governor, he stressed. He said the Assembly Secretariat would not issue a gazette notification of the fresh session called by the governor on Dec 21.

Responding to the speaker’s ruling today, the governor said that it held “no bearing”.

Rehman, in his response, addressed two main concerns raised in Khan’s ruling. Regarding the first concern, the governor said he had implied in his Dec 19 order that “if the ongoing session was prorogued by your good self (PA speaker)” any time before 4pm today then “a new session was required to be summoned” at 4pm today for the vote of confidence.

“In the alternate, a sitting of the assembly at the noted time and date could have been summoned in the 41st session of the assembly, which your good self has also noted that it was summoned by me and was never prorogued; or a fresh session specifically summoned for the purposes of requiring the chief minister to obtain the vote of confidence,” the order reads.

Earlier on Wednesday, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi said that his party Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) was supporting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan with "whole-hearted sincerity," stressing that people spreading rumors regarding differences between the two parties were following a nefarious agenda and will fail.

In a Tweet, CM Elahi said that his party was "united and will remain united."

On Tuesday, PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi said that the "strategy to dissolve Punjab Assembly was completed" in a meeting with PTI Chief Imran Khan, adding that "no matter how hard the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) tries, it cannot stop early elections.

For weeks, PML-Q leadership has tried to reassure Imran Khan that the party stands by the promise it made with the PTI regarding the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly.

"It will be done when Imran Khan wants it to happen," Moonis had said earlier.

It is pertinent to mention that PTI on Tuesday held the first round of talks with PML-Q on seat adjustment regarding the upcoming elections. The PTI was represented by Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry, and Pervaiz Khattak while CM Elahi, Moonis Elahi, and Muhammad Khan Bhatti represented PML-Q. The session was called at CM Elahi’s residence.

PTI and the PML-Q had called a joint session to negotiate seat adjustment ahead of a no-confidence motion against Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Parvez Elahi.

As per reports, the PML-Q had demanded seat adjustments in more than two dozen constituencies with the PTI before the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly.