— ‘Confident’ chief minister says his government will fight the motion
— Minister calls on Pervaiz Elahi to convey ‘important message’ from PM
LAHORE: The opposition in the Punjab Assembly moved a no-confidence motion seeking the ouster of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Monday.
122 lawmakers from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and seven from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) signed the motion before submitting it to the office of speaker, said Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan of the PML-N.
Signatures of 74 lawmakers are needed to trigger a no-confidence vote in the chief minister, Khan added.
He further said 119 MPs demanded Speaker Pervaiz Elahi to convene a session to table the motion which claimed the chief minister has lost the confidence of the House.
The former Punjab minister said the opposition had collected signatures for the motion on March 8 when the no-trust move was submitted against the prime minister. “God willing, on the day it will be tabled [for the vote], more than 200 MPs will vote to oust Buzdar,” he said.
The 17th assembly of the 371-seat House is dominated by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party whose government is supported by a coalition of 199 lawmakers. Of these, 184 belong to the PTI, 10 to Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), one to lesser-known Pakistan Rah-i-Haq Party (PRHP) and four independents.
Whereas, the opposition, essentially the PML-N and PPP, have 172 seats combined with 165 of them belonging to the former.
Buzdar needs the support of 182 lawmakers to stay in office.
According to the laws governing the House, the speaker is bound to summon a session within two weeks of the submission of the motion.
While reports claiming Buzdar prepared a summary announcing the dissolution of the House emerged over the weekend, Khan said the chief minister “cannot dissolve the assembly once the motion is submitted”.
GOVERNMENT VOWS TO FIGHT MOTION
Responding to the motion, Hasaan Khawar, a spokesperson of the government, observed the party has required numbers to win the vote. “We will give a surprise to the opposition in Punjab,” he said in a series of tweets.
▪︎اپوزیشن کی عدم اعتماد کی تحریک کا ڈٹ کر مقابلہ کریں گے۔
▪︎وزیراعلی سردار عثمان بزدار اراکین اسمبلی کیساتھ مسلسل رابطے میں ہیں,اراکین کا اعتماد عثمان بزدار ہیں۔
▪︎ہمارے نمبرز پورے ,اپوزیشن منہ کی کھائے گی۔– معاون خصوصی وزیراعلی پنجاب و ترجمان حکومت پنجاب حسان خاور
— CM Punjab Updates (@CMPunjabPK) March 28, 2022
Khawar also expressed hope the PML-Q and a posse of disgruntled party members led by former party secretary-general Jahangir Tareen will support the government.
Meanwhile, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar reached out to Elahi to discuss the move.
Reportedly, he, along with other members of the ruling party, will call on Elahi to convey an important message from the prime minister. The latest developments in Punjab will be at the heart of the discussion during the meeting, it emerged.
