Punjab PA meets today, notification issued

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: The Punjab Assembly deputy speaker has issued a fresh notification under which the Punjab Assembly will meet at 7:30pm on Wednesday (today).

According to a previous notification, the assembly was to meet on April 16. The Punjab Assembly is expected to elect a new chief minister for which Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi will face opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz. Earlier, Malik Nauman Langrial, a senior member of Jehangir Tareen’s group, in a press conference, demanded Imran Khan to meet Tareen. He said the annoyed members could return to the PTI if Tareen was given due respect and place in the party.

Earlier, the Supreme Court of Pakistan observed that although it had not yet issued an order on the issue of Punjab but the election for the provincial chief executive should be held in accordance with law and the Constitution.

The observation came during the hearing of a suo motu case of the ruling of National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. A five-member bench is hearing the case. During the hearing, Azam Nazir Tarar, a counsel for the PMLN, expressed doubt that the election of the Punjab chief minster might held on Wednesday.

However, Punjab Advocate General Awais Ahmed informed the court that a serious clash had erupted in the Punjab Assembly on April 3 after which the session was adjourned. “There is a mockery of democracy in Punjab as MPAs have been imprisoned in hotels,” he said, adding that Usman Buzdar would continue as the chief minister till the election of a new chief executive of the province. The provincial law officer requested the court to order an inquiry into what is going on in hotels.

Babar Awan, counsel for the PTI, informed the court that the party’s 22 members had been taken away in the Centre and 40 in Punjab.

The PTI government has nominated Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi for the CM slot and he himself adjourned the last sitting on Sunday when the House was to elect the CM. The PTI-PMLQ coalition in Punjab is short of the required number to form the government after the formation of rebel groups in the PTI, who are siding with the PMLN. The PMLN has a strong chance of forming the government and the adjournment clearly indicates that the government wants to buy time to woo its dissidents.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League (PMLQ) President and former Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has said that the Constitution of Pakistan is the most supreme and nobody is above the Constitution, be it the parliament or any office holder or any personality in personal capacity. “Nobody can issue an order over and above the Constitution. The parliament cannot make any law free of the Constitution, all are subordinate to the Constitution,” he said in a statement.