Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Thursday said Chaudhry Parvez Elahi had \u201cconstitutionally\u201d ceased to be the Punjab chief minister after skipping the vote of confidence.<\/p>\n
On December 19, Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman had asked Elahi to take a vote of confidence by 4pm yesterday.<\/p>\n
Subsequently, Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan had disposed of the governor\u2019s order, saying that the instructions were \u201cagainst the Constitution and Rules of Procedure\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a tit-for-tat move on December 21, Governor Balighur Rehman termed the speaker\u2019s ruling \u201cunconstitutional\u201d and the coalition government hinted at the imposition of the governor\u2019s rule in the country\u2019s largest province.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the media in Lahore today, the security czar made it clear that Elahi cannot advise dissolving the assembly now, terming it \u201cillegal and unconstitutional\u201d and against the rules of the assembly.<\/p>\n
Sanaullah was referring to the PTI\u2019s plans to dissolve the provincial assemblies of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, where it is in power tomorrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe governor\u2019s order denotifying Elahi as the chief minister is now just a formality,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it will be issued today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The PML-N leader added that a notification will be issued as soon as the governor issues an order and it will be implemented immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this constitutional decision is resisted and its implementation is stopped, the governor can write to the federal government,\u201d Sanaullah said. \u201cAfter the cabinet\u2019s approval, the federal government can send his advice to the president to approve the imposition of governor\u2019s rule in the province.\u201d<\/p>\n
The interior minister asserted that the president is bound to follow the advice of the prime minister.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second option we have is that parliament can pass a resolution and then governor\u2019s rule will be imposed for two months,\u201d he added. \u201cAfter two months, another resolution can be passed and the governor\u2019s rule can be extended for six months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dispelling the impression of a political quagmire, Sanaullah said: \u201c[When] a person (Elahi) himself had said a majority of his party members were not in favour of dissolving the assembly and still signed the [dissolution advice] papers anyway, it becomes the governor\u2019s duty to take action.\u201d<\/p>\n
Responding to a question about who would be the new Punjab CM, the interior minister said the PML-N has not yet made a decision about it. \u201cBut Hamza is our parliamentary leader and has managed the party well. I think he\u2019ll be our candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanaullah said the first business of the next parliamentary meeting will be to elect a new chief minister.<\/p>\n
He added that preparations had also begun to welcome Nawaz Sharif. When asked about the timing of Nawaz\u2019s arrival, Sanaullah said he could come back whenever he wanted. \u201cHe is our leader, he will give the return date.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commenting on recent audio leaks of PTI chief Imran Khan, the minister said: \u201cIn closed gatherings, PTI members also admit that the audios are real and they joke about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier, PTI announced to challenge any \u201cunconstitutional\u201d move of de-notifying incumbent CM Elahi, and asked its leadership, parliamentarians and party workers to reach the Punjab Governor House at 5pm on Thursday (today) to \u201cblock\u201d the governor from taking any such action.<\/p>\n
PTI Chairman Imran Khan will address the protesters through a video link and announce the party\u2019s next line of action in the face of the provincial opposition\u2019s moves to save the Punjab Assembly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Thursday said Chaudhry Parvez Elahi had \u201cconstitutionally\u201d ceased to be the Punjab chief minister after skipping the vote of confidence. On December 19, Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman had asked Elahi to take a vote of confidence by 4pm yesterday. Subsequently, Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan had disposed of the governor\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288196,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[372,11901,3464,1446],"class_list":{"0":"post-302792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-ch-parvez-elahi","9":"tag-confidence-vote","10":"tag-punjab-cm","11":"tag-rana-sanaullah"},"yoast_head":"\n