LAHORE: A majority of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s senior leaders were in favour of dissolving the Punjab Assembly in January even if the Lahore High Court does not ask Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi to take a vote of confidence.

As per sources, on Tuesday PTI senior leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhary and others held a meeting with PTI Chairman Imran Khan to prepare a strategy for the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly after the court proceedings.

The party leaders expressed their concerns that if the Punjab Assembly was not dissolved soon, the government of the Pakistan Democratic Movement might postpone the elections this year. Hence, most of them suggested dissolving the assemblies irrespective of the court’s decision on the Punjab Chief Minister de-notification case.

The former Prime Minister agreed with their observations and said that it was necessary to dissolve the Punjab Assembly as soon as possible to maintain the current pressure on the federal government.

The meeting also discussed matters relating to the seat adjustment with the Q-League for the new general election and it was told that it would be finalised soon.

Meanwhile, the PTI chief presided over a meeting of the divisional coordinators of Punjab to discuss matters relating to the vote of confidence. The party’s senior leaders, including PTI Senior Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, General Secretary Asad Umar, Punjab Parliamentary Leader Sardar Usman Buzdar and Senator Ejaz Chaudhary, were present at the meeting.

While addressing the meeting, the PTI Chairman asked the participants to ensure that all their provincial legislators were preset in the Punjab Assembly if the court asked the Punjab Chief Minister to take the vote of confidence. “Our preparations should be complete and no conspiracy would stop them,” he added.

While appreciating the performance of the PTI Punjab Parliamentary Party, he was pleased to note that the treasury benches on Monday last once again defeated the opposition by passing 21 bills in the Punjab Assembly.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023