By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: The number game has entered an interesting phase after Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — a coalition of over 10 political parties led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) — has submitted a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi in the Punjab Assembly.
The PDM motion has sought Elahi to seek a vote of confidence before he dissolves the provincial assembly on the call of former prime minister Imran Khan, whose party is in power.
No-confidence motion against Elahi
Though the PDM has moved a no-confidence motion against Elahi, the coalition lacks the requisite number of members for the in-house change in Punjab.
The PDM will require the support of 186 members for the success of the no-confidence motion against the chief minister.
In the 371-member Punjab Assembly, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has 180 members and its coalition the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-led by Elahi has 10 members.
The opposition alliance has 180 members in the Punjab Assembly including 167 by the PML-N, seven by PPP, five independents and one member by the Rah Haq Party.
On the other hand, the PML-N is facing difficulties in meeting the required number of members as 18 of its members are barred from attending at least 15 meetings of the assembly.
PML-N members Mian Abdul Rauf, Samiullah Khan, Malik Abdul Waheed, Saba Sadiq, Raheela Khadim Hussain, Rabia Nusrat, Rabia Farooqui, Zeibul Nasa Awan, Zeeshan Rafiq, Kanwal Liaquat, Gulnaz Shahzadi, Nafisa Amin, Muhammad Afzal , Adil Bakhsh, Sadia Nadeem, Rahat Afza and Sambal Malik Hussain have been barred from attending the assembly session.
Meanwhile, Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman has asked Parvez Elahi to seek the vote of confidence from the house during a session of the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday (tomorrow) at 4 pm.
“The governor has summoned a meeting of the Punjab Assembly on December 21, 2022
(Wednesday afternoon) at 1600 hours under Article 130(7) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” says a press release issued by the Governor’s media cell here on Tuesday.
