LAHORE: In contrast with its calls for the establishment to stay out of politics, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Wedn­esday announced that it would lodge a complaint with the army chief against the “pressure” tactics being allegedly used by some people in the military.

The PTI would inform the army chief that some of his colleagues were pressurising party MPAs by making “calls from private numbers”, said PTI senior leader Fawad Chaudhry.

Referring to the establishment’s alleged involvement in “political engineering”, Fawad Chaudhry stressed that state institutions should have a working relationship with all parties. He further said that state institutions should be on one page with the people of Pakistan.

“When state institutions will come on one page with the masses, they will be compelled to have good relations with the PTI too because it was public’s favourite and largest political party.”

Talking to the media at the Punjab Assembly, he said: “We will raise this serious issue with the army chief on his return from a visit abroad and demand investigations to apprehend those violating instructions of the army chief”.

Mr Chaudhry’s remarks came ahead of a chaotic day at the Punjab Assembly, which saw the sitting extended past mid­night, culminating in Chief Minister Parvez Elahi winning a confidence vote amid an opposition’s walkout.

Earlier, when the assembly proceedings were in progress, Mr Chaudhry had expressed the confidence that the PTI and its ally PML-Q would complete the numbers game and CM Elahi would get the vote of confidence in a smooth manner.

“Mubarak Punjab! Mubarak [Pakistan] Tehreek-i-Insaf! Mubarak Quaid League,” he later tweeted after the results were announced.

Other PTI leaders were also quick to hurl celebratory tweets at what they saw as a humiliating defeat for their opponents.

“Alhamdulillah 186. Long live Pakistan,” Asad Umar tweeted, referring to the minimum number of votes a chief minister in the Punjab Assembly requires to retain their position — but fewer than 187, and even 188, that PTI leaders had earlier claimed to have before the vote.

Sharing a picture of a PML-N lawmaker Malik Ahmad Khan trying to make his case while standing in front of the speaker’s dais, former minister Hammad Azhar said: “Until yesterday, Noon League was challenging [us] to complete [the count of] 186, but today it is begging that for the sake of God, do not take the vote of confidence.”

PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi, the chief minister’s son, mocked PML-N leader Hina Pervaiz Butt by sharing a picture of her holding her face in her hands. “Oh God, what happened!” he tweeted and said that the picture depicted the situation in the opposition’s camp.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2023