Punjab Assembly has become an epicenter of politics in Pakistan. The political scuffle between the ruling parties Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League Q with opposition has destabilized the province. The opposition parties had submitted the motion of no confidence against Chief Minister Punjab, Chaudhry Pervez Ilahi, but the matter lingered on due to the ruling of the Governor Punjab regarding de notification of CM Punjab. So, the matter reached Lahore High Court which postponed the hearing till January 11.
During this period two big developments took place. One was that the opposition parties took the no confidence motion back and the other was that the discussion generated regarding the vote of confidence. As the session of Punjab Assembly is scheduled to take place on January 09, so there were talks that the CM may get the vote of confidence on the said day before the scheduled hearing at LHC on January 11. While considering this point the political parties had started disturbing the number game in the Punjab Assembly. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA, Momina Waheed announced not to vote for Ch Pervez Ilahi in confidence voting. After her statement a number of speculations circulated across the country that the government of PTI and PML-Q in Punjab is in great danger as MPA’s are going to change their direction.
The prolonged discussion about confidence motion ended on Thursday evening when CM Punjab Chaudhry Pervez Ilahi announced that he is not going to take the vote of confidence. In a press conference in Lahore, the chief minister said: “I don’t accept the letter that the governor has written for the vote of confidence. If I take the vote of confidence, then it means that I am accepting the letter.” The move will likely intensify the political turmoil in Punjab, which came to a halt after the Lahore High Court (LHC) reinstated Elahi as the CM following his de-notification by the governor. The court reinstated Elahi on December 23 and adjourned the hearing till January 11. Although it restricted the CM from dissolving the assembly, the court said its order would not stop Elahi from taking a vote of confidence. As a result, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), an ally of Elahi started works and the party’s leaders claimed that the CM would take the trust vote before January 11, the hearing’s date.
The number game in Punjab assembly is in the favor Chaudhry Pervez Ilahi currently. Punjab assembly is comprised of 371 members and the votes of 186 members are required for making government in Punjab. In the current situation PTI and PML-Q are jointly ruling the province. PTI has 180 seats and PML-Q has 10 seats. So, Chaudhry Pervez Ilahi has total 190 votes and in case one PTI’s MPA not gives vote to Ilahi even then the number would be 189. But, the situation can be problematic in case few other MPAs also announce their support with the PTI’s MPA Momina Waheed. So, apparently the situation is in the favor of Ch Pervez Ilahi. If he decides to get the confidence vote then he can manage to get the majority. But, to avoid any mishap he has decided not to go for taking vote of confidence. So the Punjab Saga in politics of Pakistan seems to be continued in coming days.
Published in Daily Country News, January 6th, 2023.
Comments are closed.