• Imran alleges Bajwa’s ‘deal with Zardari, CM Murad’ hampered accountability
• PTI delegation calls on Punjab CM, Moonis to discuss seat adjustment

LAHORE: The senior leadership of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) deci­ded that Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi will take a vote of confidence ahead of Jan 11 — when the Lahore High Court will take up the case pertaining to his de-notification — to pave the way for Punjab Assembly’s dissolution.

In light of the probable vote of confidence, Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan has already summoned the assembly session on Jan 11. Though PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi acknowledged that the chief minister could take a vote of confidence ahead of the next hearing, he added that it was also supposed to be decided whether the governor’s order directing the de-notification of CM Elahi was valid.

PTI meeting at Zaman Park

In a meeting with the party’s senior leadership and journalists at his Zaman Park residence on Saturday, PTI chief Imran Khan predicted that the next general elections would be held in March or April. During the meeting, the PTI chief launched another tirade against former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and alleged that Mr Bajwa opposed the accountability of the corrupt during PTI’s last year in power.

The former premier also alleged that the former army chief had struck a “deal” with PPP leader Asif Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, observing that was the reason corruption could not be rooted out during the PTI government.

Mr Khan called the alleged deal the reason why accountability of the corrupt could not reach a logical conclusion, as reported by Dawn.com. Mr Bajwa thought that the PTI’s popularity would slide, but it did not happen as per his wishes, Imran Khan claimed.

Preparations for confidence vote

Following the meeting with the former prime minister, PTI senior leader Fawad Chaudhry told media persons that the PTI and PML-Q had completed their 177 and 10 MPAs strength, respectively, to prep up for the confidence vote in the PA.

“The chief minister has promised PTI that he will dissolve assemblies soon after taking the vote of confidence — a move that will determine fresh elections,” Mr Chaudhry said.

Parvez Elahi had also tweeted late on Friday evening that the decision to dissolve assemblies was final and he would implement Imran Khan’s decision.

Fawad Chaudhry said PML-N ministers Rana Sanaullah and Ahsan Iqbal were making “tall claims” that the government would hold elections when the PTI dissolved its provincial assemblies. “As soon as the PTI announced the date to dissolve assemblies, the PML-N leadership ran away like anything,” he commented.

The PTI leader added that the PDM government also “ran away from holding local government elections in Islamabad as they had no courage to face the masses”.

Referring to PTI MNAs’ resignations submitted some eight months ago, Mr Chaudhry claimed the National Assembly speaker just disappeared when the PTI announced it would appear in the assembly for the verification of their resignations. “Now the party has decided that its MNAs will reach the assembly while keeping the plan secret,” he said and urged the Supreme Court to look into the resignations’ case.

Meanwhile, a PTI delegation led by Shah Mahmood Qureshi met CM Elahi and his son Moonis. The meeting discussed seat adjustment for the next general elections.

Moonis’ interview

Separately, PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi, while appearing on a news channel, said Imran Khan had given six days for the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly on Dec 23 because both Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief ministers sought time for development works and relevant issues before disbanding the assemblies.

He rejected the impression that the dissolution of assemblies was being delayed so that the bureaucracy could release funds for the uplift schemes. Explaining another reason, Mr Elahi said President Arif Alvi was busy in backdoor channel talks and Imran Khan wanted to give some time for the outcome of those consultations.

Seat adjustment formula

In response to a question about the seat adjustment formula, Mr Elahi said the PML-Q had requested that both parties should decide about the seat adjustment as assemblies were going to be dissolved.

“Mr Khan immediately constituted a committee, which met thrice to discuss seat adjustment formula and constituencies as far as central Punjab and South Punjab are concerned,” he said and rebuffed the rumours that the PML-Q had demanded 30 MPAs and 15 MNAs seats in the province.

Mr Elahi also said the seat adjustments issues were now being discussed among political people, which was not the case ahead of the 2018 general elections.

Answering another question, Moonis Elahi said the software of his maternal uncle (Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain) had been updated and added that his uncle’s children had misled him.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2022