Fawad says PTI will ask CM Elahi to take vote of confidence 'immediately'

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry said Saturday that his party will ask Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi to take a vote of confidence from the provincial assembly "immediately," adding that the date of the assembly session will be announced after consultation with the Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) leadership, Aaj News reported.

Talking to the media in Lahore, the former information minister said that his party was ready to hold elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

Fawad said that a delegation of the PTI will soon hold talks with Chief Minister Parvez Elahi and Moonis Elahi in this regard. "We will decide the date to call the assembly session to give a vote of confidence to the chief minister so that the dissolution of the assembly can be made possible."

Fawad said that PTI's 177 provincial assembly members are backing CM Elahi in addition to the 10 PML-Q members. "In total, we have 187 provincial assembly lawmakers, excluding the speaker," he said, adding that "all these people will give a vote of confidence to CM Elahi."

The development comes a day after the Lahore High Court (LHC) reinstated Chief Minister Parvez Elahi and his cabinet after he assured the court that he would not dissolve the provincial assembly after regaining control of the office.

The court had asked Elahi to submit an undertaking that he would not dissolve the assembly as the move would worsen the ongoing political turmoil in the province.

Earlier this week, Fawad said that Governor Punjab's notification to de-notify Parvez Elahi as Punjab chief minister was unconstitutional and the court order had nullified it.

Addressing the media in Lahore right after the court’s decision, Fawad said that the provincial assemblies would be dissolved, after all, noting that the chief minister had delayed the dissolution until the next hearing, which is due on January 11, 2023.

The PTI leader said the governor went out of the way and violated the Constitution, but could send an elected chief minister home.

In his media talk today, Fawad reiterated that the chief minister was ready to dissolve the assembly as per the promise made with Imran Khan.

A similar assurance was also given by PML-Q leadership. On Friday, Parvez Elahi said that the decision to dissolve the assembly was “final”, adding that PTI chief Imran Khan’s decision in this regard would be “fully implemented”.

“The imported government wants to run away from elections. We will present the imported government in the people’s court and the people will make the final decision,” he said.

Earlier, Punjab Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman had de-notified the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader as the chief minister as he did not take a vote of confidence despite the passage of several hours.

On Friday, Parvez Elahi moved the LHC against Punjab Governor’s orders, saying it was “unconstitutional, unlawful and of no legal effect”.

A larger bench, headed by Justice Abid Aziz, and comprising Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh, Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal, Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabir, and Justice Asim Hafeez, heard Parvez Elahi’s petition against the de-notification order.

Fawad in his address today also talked about PTI MNA's pending resignations.

"127 national assembly lawmakers gave resignations eight months ago on Imran Khan's one call," he said, adding that the NA Speaker should accept resignations as it is our democratic right.

"We are going to the National Assembly this week. I will not announce the date as the speaker will again disappear," he remarked.

Fawad said that a case in this regard was also pending before the Supreme Court (SC). "The court should take note of the issue as neither the speaker is accepting our resignations nor giving us time."

"Our resignations should be accepted and elections should be held across Pakistan," he stressed.