A session of the Punjab Assembly (PA) was on Sunday adjourned till April 6 (Wednesday) without voting to elect the new leader of the house amid ruckus by opposition and government lawmakers.
The provincial assembly was to vote today to elect the new leader of the house, with PML-Q's PTI-backed Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and PML-N's Hamza Shehbaz, who had secured the support of Jahangir Khan Tarin (JKT) group, expected to go head to head in the race to become the next chief minister.
Ahead of today's Punjab Assembly session, the press gallery of the assembly was locked, barring journalists from covering the proceedings.
The PA session took place at the same time when a National Assembly session was to vote on a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. In the end, neither of the two votes took place as the no-trust move in the NA was dismissed by Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri, who deemed the resolution in contradiction of Article 5 of the Constitution.PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique deemed the adjournment of the session "unconstitutional".
Earlier, the federal government, in a surprise move, removed Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar from his post hours before the session of the provincial assembly. He was later replaced by Omar Sarfraz Cheema, PTI's former information secretary.
The top ministerial slot of the largest province fell vacant with the acceptance of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar's resignation by Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar on Friday.
The Punjab government had de-notified CM Buzdar after the acceptance of his resignation but in the same notification allowed him “to continue to hold office until his successor enters upon the office”. In an array of notifications, the provincial government had also denotified all the 37 provincial ministers, five advisers to the chief minister and five special assistants to the chief minister.
Buzdar had presented his resignation to Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 28 after a delegation of senior lawmakers had submitted a no-trust motion against him with Punjab Assembly Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti on the same day.
Following Buzdar's resignation, the PTI had announced the PML-Q's Chaudhry Pervez Elahi as its candidate for Punjab's chief minister. The move had come as the ruling party had stepped up efforts to ensure the support of its allies ahead of a no-trust vote against the premier, against the backdrop of multiple PTI allies joining the opposition. The PML-Q, which is a crucial ally of the PTI government in Punjab and Centre, with 10 and five seats, respectively, had later confirmed its support for the ruling party.
Following PTI's announcement, PML-N finalised the name of Hamza Shehbaz for the CM's post after approval by party supremo Nawaz Sharif.
To be elected as chief minister, a candidate will need at least 186 votes in the 371-member house. In the Punjab Assembly, the PTI has 183 lawmakers, PML-Q 10, PML-N 165, PPP seven, five are independent and one belongs to Rah-i-Haq.
Decisive factor
The decisive factor in today's vote is the support of Jahangir Tareen group, a bloc of around 16 disgruntled PTI lawmakers.
Members of the Jahangir Tareen group ‘pulled a fast one’ on the PML-Q yesterday when, after late-night negotiations with the Elahis, they chose to throw their weight behind the opposition camp.
This prompted hectic activity in the Parvez Elahi-led ruling bloc.
PML-Q leaders led by Moonis Elahi had remained in meetings with members of the Jahangir Tareen group until around 2.30am on Saturday to iron out the terms of their offer.
However, a tweet by former finance minister Ishaq Dar in the wee hours changed the whole scenario. “Had fruitful final round of discussion with Jahangir Khan Tareen and it was agreed that the Tareen group would support joint opposition’s candidate Hamza Shehbaz Sharif for the slot of chief minister,” Dar tweeted.Talking to Dawn, Moonis Elahi said former Punjab minister Nauman Langrial had committed late in the night that 12 out of 17 members gave their consent to vote for Parvez Elahi. Langrial also committed that he would convince the remaining five members,” said Moonis Elahi while talking to Dawn.
Moonis said he had personally contacted three Tareen group members and won their support, which was later publically announced. The three members — Abdul Hayee Dasti, Rafaqat Ali Gillani and Ameer Mohammad Khan — also met Parvez Elahi at his Punjab Assembly chamber.
While PTI dissident and former senior minister Aleem Khan also showed the strength of nine MPAs to PML-N’s CM candidate Hamza Shehbaz who visited the ex-minister at his office on Saturday, Elahi claimed some of them would express their explicit support for him.
But on Sunday, three lawmakers of the Aleem Khan group — Ashraf Rind, Aun Dogar and Mian Alamdar Qureshi — were seen entering the Punjab Assembly with Moonis Elahi.
The legislators announced to support the PML-Q in the Punjab Assembly today after their meeting with Moonis earlier in the day. Talking to a reporter, Qureshi said he was a part of the PTI and he would vote for Elahi.
Rind also voiced his support for the PTI, saying he was associated with the party since 2010. "We have a personal relationship with Aleem Khan and we do not deny it. But our ties with the PTI and Chaudhrys are deep and we will support them."
Moonis said the PML-Q leadership was already in contact with many MPAs belonging to the PML-N and hoped that the treasury would show more than the required 186 numbers on the voting day on Sunday (today).
Also, Prime Minister Imran Khan in a tweet asked all PTI lawmakers in Punjab to vote for PML-Q leader Parvez Elahi in the Punjab CM’s election on Sunday. “Any PTI MPA going against party direction, including abstaining from vote, will be disqualified and face strict disciplinary action,” Mr Khan warned.
However, on Saturday, Punjab MPA Nauman Langrial formally announced that the Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT) group would support the PML-N scion for the Punjab chief ministry.
He said the group — which comprises PTI dissidents — made its decision based on "honesty, sincerity and for the country's sake", adding that the group hoped Hamza would serve the province well.
In reply to a question, Langrial had said that there was no "deal" behind the Tareen group's decision to support Hamza.
Hamza had thanked the Tareen group for showing confidence in his leadership as well as that of Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif. He had vowed to steer the province towards the "path of progress, where [erstwhile CM] Shehbaz Sharif had left it" before the PTI's tenure.
