Elahi to get trust vote before Jan 11: Fawad

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry Saturday announced that Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi will get a vote of confidence from the provincial assembly much before January 11.

In a press conference in Lahore, the former information minister said the PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PMLQ) would ensure that the vote of confidence is attained at the earliest which would, in turn, enable them to dissolve the assemblies.

“We are confident that we have the majority. If we exclude Speaker [Sibtain Khan], then we have the support of 187 lawmakers. The chief minister has also promised that he is ready to dissolve the assembly,” Fawad said.

He added that Imran Khan chaired a meeting of the party’s senior leadership on Saturday where it was decided that the vote of confidence will take place at the earliest. As part of the plan, a PTI delegation will meet Elahi and his son Moonis Elahi to discuss the decision and fix a date when the chief minister will take a vote of confidence.

The MPAs of both the parties have been asked to ensure their presence in the provincial capital.

“The Punjab Assembly will be dissolved after the chief minister takes a vote of confidence. Elahi has the support of 177 PTI lawmakers and 10 PMLQ members,” he noted. The other day, the Lahore High Court had reinstated Elahi as the chief minister and also issued notices to all parties in the case, summoning them on January 11.

The court suspended Punjab Governor Baligh Ur Rehman’s order till the next hearing (Jan 11) and also did not make it compulsory for the CM to take a vote of confidence on his orders.