Provincial assembly calls for holding early elections to bring country out of \u2018worsening political, economic crises\u2019
\n LAHORE
\nThe Punjab Assembly on Sunday approved a resolution calling for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja.
\nThe session of the provincial assembly began with newly-elected Speaker Sibtain Khan administering the oath to his deputy, Wasiq Qayyum.
\nQayyum was elected unopposed a day earlier after the Opposition announced a boycott of the polls.
\nIn today\u2019s address, speaker Khan told the assembly that his deputy was elected after no one else submitted their nomination papers.
\nAfter the oath was administered, PTI lawmaker Syed Abbas Shah presented the motion against the Election Commission of Pakistan\u2019s chief, which was later approved by the assembly.
\nThe motion calls on CEC Raja to resign from his post. After the motion was passed, the Assembly was adjourned till August 15.
\nPTI to take action against chief election commissioner
\nThe Imran Khan-led PTI took control of the Punjab Assembly along with their ally PML-Q following the Supreme Court\u2019s intervention in the chief minister\u2019s election.
\nAfter taking charge, in a meeting chaired by Khan on Saturday (July 30) the PTI announced that it has decided to file a disqualification reference in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against CEC Raja for meeting the coalition parties that have formed a government at the centre.
\nIn the same meeting, the PTI decided that provincial governments would also take action against the ECP and the provincial assemblies \u2014 in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa \u2014 would pass no-confidence resolutions against the ECP.
\nPTI Information Secretary Farrukh Habib later issued a statement and said the party had made preparations for filing a disqualification reference in the SJC against the CEC.
\nHe said the CEC met the PDM leaders after having reserved a judgment in the prohibited funding case.
\n\u201cBy doing so, the chief election commissioner violated his oath, the code of conduct as well as his constitutional duty,\u201d he charged, adding that instructions had been issued to the party\u2019s legal team in this regard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Provincial assembly calls for holding early elections to bring country out of \u2018worsening political, economic crises\u2019 LAHORE The Punjab Assembly on Sunday approved a resolution calling for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja. The session of the provincial assembly began with newly-elected Speaker Sibtain Khan administering the oath to his deputy, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274826,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-274809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n