LAHORE: Prior to the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) January 11 hearing of a case pertaining to his de-notification, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), reversing its earlier consensus, determined that Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi will not take a vote of confidence.
On December 23, when Governor Baligh Ur Rehman had denotified CM Parvez Elahi for failing to accept the vote of confidence from the provincial parliament, the LHC reinstated Elahi.
Elahi promised not to dissolve the assembly prior to the next hearing, therefore the LHC delayed the notification after hearing the views of the Punjab government and others.
At a later PTI consultative meeting held at Imran Khan’s Zaman Park home, it was decided that the election will take place before January 11.
Elahi had a change of heart on Friday and refused to abide by the governor’s orders, which compelled the PTI to devise a countermove.
In response to Elahi’s hesitation to cast the trust vote, sources told Geo News that the PTI head had instructed party leaders to guarantee that voting took place and that PTI legislators would resign from the assembly if any obstacles were put in the way of the Punjab Assembly’s dissolution.
After consultation with the party’s legal minds, the PTI has reportedly decided not to take a vote of confidence at the Punjab Assembly session on January 9.
According to the sources, the legal team had told PTI Chairman Imran Khan that the vote of confidence should be connected to the court decision because the governor’s order directing CM Elahi to seek a vote of confidence from the Punjab assembly lacked any legal foundation.
If elections are held in accordance with the Punjab governor’s decision prior to the court’s ruling, it will be valid.
The sources claimed that the parliamentary leader of the PTI gave no directives to the members on the vote of confidence in the session on January 9.
On the other hand, PTI MPA Zainab Umair stated that there were consultations taking place regarding every facet of the vote of confidence.