no confidence motion against shehbaz sharif Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that President Arif Alvi will soon ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to face a vote of confidence, as he stepped up efforts to press for mid-term elections on the government. “Shehbaz Sharif tested us in Punjab and now it is his turn to prove whether he has a majority in the National Assembly or not,” Khan said during a media interaction here and in an interview to Hum News TV on Saturday. ”
Citing differences in the federal alliance as Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said, “At first, Shahbaz will be tested for a vote of confidence…and later we will have a vote for him.” There are other plans.” (MQM-P) threatened to quit on the issue of local body elections in Karachi and Hyderabad.
Shahbaz may have to lose his chair
President Alvi belongs to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the federal coalition holds on to a slim majority. The MQM-P has seven members in the National Assembly, and if she decides to quit, the Shehbaz government may not survive.
Khan has already said that he would sacrifice both the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa legislatures to force the federal government to announce mid-term elections. Khan says that only fresh elections can get the country out of the economic crisis.
The federal government, however, insists that general elections will be held in August after the government’s term is over. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Punjab Assembly was automatically dissolved on Saturday after the governor of the province, Balighur Rehman, refused to sign the summary sent by Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi to dissolve the provincial legislature.
“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly will also be dissolved in a day or two”
Elahi, the joint candidate of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and PML-Q, signed the summary dissolution of the Punjab Assembly after winning the trust vote.
Imran Khan said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly will also be dissolved in a few days.
Khan was ousted from power in April last year through a no-confidence motion.
Meanwhile, PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif chaired a party meeting in Lahore on Saturday evening through a video link from London, where he has been living in self-exile since November 2019.
PMLN spokesperson and federal information minister Maryam Aurangzeb said, “Nawaz Sharif has instructed party leaders and workers to start preparations for elections in Punjab. He also asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to set up a parliamentary board to distribute tickets.” “
(With inputs from PTI)
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