LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Fawad Chauhdry has said that right after Punjab Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman approves the summary of dissolution of Punjab Assembly, the PTI would dissolve the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly; “a summary in this connection has been prepared”.
While talking to the media here on Friday, he advised the Punjab Governor to act independently by giving the order to dissolve the Punjab Assembly rather than delaying it.
He disclosed that KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and his cabinet were expected in the city today, but due to bad weather conditions they had to cancel their visit; “however, a detailed telephonic discussion was held with them on the matter relating to dissolution of the KP Assembly and they have prepared the summary in this regard.”
On the dissolution of Punjab Assembly, the former federal minister said that after deciding to dissolve the assembly on Thursday last, its summary was sent to the Punjab Governor’s House on the same night and subsequently the same was received by its staff at 9.30 pm. “We expect the Punjab Governor to approve the summary instead of waiting for 48 hours under Article 112 so that the process for formation of an interim government starts,” he added.
“We were formally contacting Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Sharif to discuss the formation of interim government and Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi would send him the names for the interim set-up.
I hope that Hamza would also show maturity by suggesting names of impartial people capable of supervising free and fair elections. We also expect the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to appoint an impartial interim government,” he said.
“The PTI has started deliberations on the names for interim government, which would be shared with the PML-Q,” he added.
On local government elections, he said the ECP has taken the right decision by not delaying them. However, he said, the federal government using delaying tactic over the local bodies elections in Islamabad, which was in defiance of the Islamabad High Court’s orders, shows that the Pakistan Democratic Movement was avoiding the elections and also depriving the people of their right to vote.
“I urge the Supreme Court to take notice of this and ensure that the local government elections were held in the federal capital on time,” he added.
He further said that the business community’s protests against banks in Karachi were alarming; “the current economic woes were the outcome of the coalition government’s incompetence”. He blamed Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for further economic deterioration and said the perception he gave (on the current economic situation) has deepened the challenges. “The N-League has a track record of leaving the economy in bad shape. When the country’s Prime Minister and the Finance Minister were involved in money laundering then how can we expect the country to progress,” he added.
He again urged the coalition government to announce immediate general elections and not test the patience of the nation; “sit with us to decide on the framework of elections across the country. We should work together for a smooth transition of government,” he added.
To a question, he said it was the constitutional right of President Arif Alvi to ask the Prime Minister to take a vote of confidence and he alone will decide when to ask Shehbaz Sharif to take the vote.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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