CM Elahi signs summary for dissolving Punjab Assembly
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Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi on Thursday signed the summary for the dissolution of the provincial assembly.
The development came after Elahi, who had managed to secure a confidence vote from the Punjab Assembly in the early hours of Thursday, called on PTI chief Imran Khan at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore.
In a brief one-line advice addressed to Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman, Elahi said: “I Parvez Elahi, chief minister of Punjab, hereby advise you to dissolve the provincial assembly.”
Initially, a picture of summary, printed on a plain piece of paper, was circulated on Twitter by several PTI leaders. But Elahi’s son Moonis later tweeted a copy of the summary on the chief minister’s official letterhead, bearing both his signature and today’s date.
“Promise fulfilled. May we see you back in the prime minister seat soon @ImranKhanPTI,” Moonis said.
The Punjab governor, meanwhile, confirmed that he had received the summary sent by Elahi.
‘KP Assembly to be dissolved day after tomorrow’
Speaking to the media after Elahi’s meeting with Imran, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry had announced that Elahi had signed the summary and the advice had been forwarded to the Punjab governor.
“If governor does not accept the advice then, the assembly is automatically dissolved after 48 hours.”
Fawad also said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly would be dissolved “day after tomorrow”.
He thanked Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leaders Moonis and Hussain Elahi as well as their lawmakers for standing with the PTI. He said that the country was headed towards general elections, adding that the PTI and Imran had “fulfilled their promise”.
He said that a letter would be sent to PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz in the next two days for finalising an interim government, adding that elections would take place in the next 90 days.
Fawad urged the federal government to abandon its “stubbornness”, asserting that the economy could not be fixed without holding new elections.
“It won’t make sense if two provinces, making up 70 per cent of the country, hold elections while the rest of the country doesn’t.”
Fawad called on National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to accept the resignations of PTI lawmakers so that elections could be carried out alongside the provincial seats.
Earlier in the day, Fawad had reiterated the PTI’s intent to dissolve the two assemblies. In informal conversation with reporters in Lahore, he said: “The decision to dissolve the assemblies has already been made […] In fact, we would want them to be dissolved today.”
‘No seat adjustment yet with PML-Q’
Speaking to Dawn News English, PTI’s Asad Umar said that seat adjustment with the PML-Q had not yet been decided.
“There is no definitive number of the seats PML-Q is asking for. In fact, they just said they would be discussing the seat adjustment after the dissolution has taken place. They don’t want to give an impression they are trying to blackmail us at this point in time.”
He further said that Elahi had not put forth any demands. “The position that he (Elahi) has taken is that he trusts Imran Khan and, therefore, he does not want to make any demands before the dissolution.”
He asserted that the KP Assembly would be dissolved in the next 48 hours.
