LAHORE: The opposition may bring a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Usman Buzdar before March 28 to forestall the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government’s possible plan to dissolve the Punjab Assembly in case of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ouster.

“The PML-N and PPP leaders are deliberating to bring a no-trust move against Buzdar in the last week of this month sensing that Imran Khan may ask Buzdar to dissolve the Punjab Assembly in case of his (Khan’s) ouster to make things complicated for the opposition in its post-PTI arrangements,” a senior PML-N leader who is part of the deliberations on the matter told Dawn on Thursday.

He said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and the PPP leaders discussed the matter after it was told that the PTI was considering dissolution of the Punjab Assembly in case the opposition succeeded in sending the premier packing through voting on a no-trust motion on March 28 in the National Assembly.

“To forestall this, the joint opposition may submit a no-confidence motion against Buzdar in the Punjab Assembly before March 28 so that he could not take this step,” the PML-N leader said.

Another PDM insider said the opposition had already completed its homework to oust Buzdar. “The Tareen group has given its commitment to opposition leader in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz to vote against Buzdar,” he said. The Tareen group claims to have the support of more than two dozen MPAs.

Read more: After no-confidence resolution, efforts to dislodge Buzdar gather steam

The PML-Q, the ally of the government which has 10 seats in the Punjab Assembly, has already hinted at joining hands with the opposition. The Chaudhrys of Gujrat claim that their party has been offered the Punjab chief minister slot by the opposition in return for supporting the no-confidence motion against Khan.

The PTI leader reportedly had discussed the idea of dissolving the Punjab Assembly but it was not backed by many in the core team. However, some hawks suggested to PM Khan to go for this adventure in Punjab if the no-trust move succeeded against him.

Meanwhile, a beleaguered Buzdar met the party MPAs for the fifth consecutive day on Thursday to have their pledge to support him in this hour of need. The PTI has more than 170 MPAs in the Punjab Assembly and Buzdar has met 150 of them during the last five days.

Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told Dawn that the PTI had no intention to dissolve the Punjab Assembly. “No such proposal is under discussion.We will face no-confidence motion in the Centre and Punjab as well,” he said.

Asked what option the PTI would have for Punjab in case the opposition’s no-confidence motion in the Centre succeeds, Mr Chaudhry said: “This scenario is unlikely, however, we would not dissolve the Punjab Assembly as completion of assembly tenure is in our favour.”

When a comment was sought from PML-N Punjab spokesperson Azma Bokhari, she said: “We are keeping an eye on all such developments and any decision on no-confidence motion against Buzdar will be taken in consultation with the opposition parties.”

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2022