Vote of confidence: Parvez Elahi in trouble as three PTI MPs rebel

LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi seem to be in trouble as they struggle to complete the requisite number of votes needed to secure the upcoming vote of confidence in the provincial assembly.

The latest setback seems to have come from an independent lawmaker in the Punjab Assembly with Majlis Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen (MWM) Syeda Zahra Naqvi announcing that she and her party were an ally of the PTI, not Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PMLQ) Parvez Elahi.

Thus far, the PTI and PMLQ are struggling to reach the magic number of 186 with three lawmakers of PTI reportedly willing to rebel against Elahi’s re-election as the provincial chief minister.

For Parvez Elahi, the vote of confidence has become ‘do or die’ as opposition parties Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have joined hands to oust Elahi.

The political crisis in Punjab took a new turn after the Lahore High Court (LHC) suspended a notification issued by Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman to de-notify the Punjab CM Elahi after the later failed to obtain a vote of no-confidence from the provincial assembly in the stipulated time.

Imran Khan has chaired a number of meetings in the recent days to devise a strategy so they could win the battle of nerves. The PTI chief has already announced to dissolve the assemblies after the Punjab CM Parvez Elahi gets the vote of confidence.