LAHORE: To pave way for the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to go for a vote of confidence at the earliest.

While talking to the media here on Saturday, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said that PTI Chairman Imran Khan had summoned a meeting of the party’s senior leadership, where it was decided that Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi would take the vote of confidence at the earliest; it would be held before the next hearing of the Lahore High Court. “The PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) would ensure that the vote of confidence is held at the earliest and thus enabling them to dissolve the assemblies,” he added.

In this connection, a PTI delegation will meet the Punjab Chief Minister and PML-Q senior leader Moonis Elahi to decide the date for the vote of confidence; “they will meet Elahi and his son to discuss the decision and fix a date for when the Chief Minister will take a vote of confidence”.

He averred that the PTI was confident that it has the majority in the House. “If we exclude Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan, we still have the support of 187 lawmakers; the Chief Minister has the support of 177 PTI lawmakers and 10 PML-Q members. The Chief Minister has also promised that he was ready to dissolve the assembly,” he added.

He reiterated that the Punjab Assembly will be dissolved after the vote of confidence and then they will head for the elections.

Chaudhary showed concern over the growing instability in Afghanistan and said that Pakistan will have to pay a heavy price for this. He blamed the government for not maintaining the relationship with the Afghan government. He castigated Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for a ‘failed’ foreign policy.

He noted that the federal government has lost focus on the country; “in the federal capital no minister was available in his office”. The economy is in shambles while the federal cabinet is overwhelmingly represented by corrupt people who are focused on clearing their corruption cases and making foreign visits, he claimed.

“The PTI has a clear stance that only fresh elections can bring stability to the country. We were making all the efforts to for the snap polls,” he added.

He castigated the National Assembly Speaker for not giving time to the PTI members of the National Assembly for verification of their resignations. “Whenever we give a date to see him, the Speaker goes on a leave; it seems we have to give him a surprise visit,” he added.

“We are going to the National Assembly next week and we will not disclose the date, as the Speaker may again vanish from the House,” he added. He also urged the Supreme Court to take up the case relating to the resignations at the earliest; “it was our democratic right to resign from the assemblies”.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022