LAHORE: Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has ceased to hold the office of the chief minister of Punjab after he stalled the governor’s order to obtain a vote of confidence from the provincial legislative assembly by Wednesday afternoon, declared the minister for interior on Thursday.
Rana Sanaullah Khan, who was speaking to the press in Lahore, said the law was clear in such a scenario and Elahi, who is allied with his rival Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, cannot ask the governor to dissolve the parliament now.
Such a situation would be “illegal and unconstitutional,” and against the rules governing the house, he added.
Baligh ur-Rehman, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) governor of the province, had on Tuesday night asked Elahi to obtain the vote, apparently in a bid to prevent the PTI from going ahead with the scheduled dissolution of the assembly on Friday.
Imran Khan, the former prime minister and chairperson of the party, announced last week he would dissolve two provincial assemblies — of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — on Friday, earlier than scheduled, in an attempt to build pressure on the federal government to hold snap elections.
انشاء اللہ عمران خان کے ساتھ دل و جان سے ہیں اور ساتھ دیتے رہیں گے۔مسلم لیگ قائداعظم متحد ہے اور متحد رہے گی۔ افواہیں پھیلانے والے مخصوص ایجنڈے پر چل رہے ہیں اوراختلافات کا پراپیگنڈہ کرنے والوں کے مذموم عزائم ناکام ہوں گے-
— Ch Parvez Elahi (@ChParvezElahi) December 21, 2022
Subsequently, on Wednesday, in the face of the provincial government’s intention not to comply with the governor’s directive, Sanaullah claimed if the order was not followed through, the governor may notify the chief minister ceasing to hold office.
Reply to the Speaker’s ruling of yesterday, which was illegal and unconstitutional. pic.twitter.com/Akoen3s84Q
— M Baligh Ur Rehman (@MBalighurRehman) December 21, 2022
“The governor’s order denotifying Elahi as the chief minister is now just a formality,” he told the media on Thursday. “I think it will be issued today.”
The minister added that a notification will be issued as soon as the governor issues an order, and it will be implemented immediately.
“If this constitutional decision is resisted and its implementation is stopped, the governor can write to the federal government,” he said. “After the cabinet’s approval, the federal government can send his advice to the president to approve the imposition of governor’s rule in the province.”
The interior minister asserted the president was bound to follow the advice of the prime minister.
On the assistance of the PTI that it would write to Arif Alvi to remove the governor, the interior minister said the president was bound to follow the orders of the prime minister.
“Removing a governor is far-fetched, the president cannot even remove the bee sitting on his head without the prime minister’s advice,” said Sanaullah. He added if the PTI was serious about dissolving the assemblies then they could have collected the signatures on December 17, the day it announced the dissolution, and implemented that.
On the issue of the protest of PTI outside the official residence of the governor on The Mall, the interior minister said if the party has “planned any hooliganism” today then the central government would make the arrangements for it.
چئیرمین پاکستان تحریک انصاف عمران خان کی کال پراحتجاج
📍بمقام: گورنر ہاؤس
🕔 بوقت: 5 بجے#ProtestAtGovernorHouse#خان_تیری_جرأت_کو_سلام pic.twitter.com/fseyNyT5C4— Raza Akram (@RazaAkram222) December 22, 2022
He added it was the responsibility of the provincial government to maintain law and order.
“There is no political crisis. An assembly session will be called for the election of the new chief minister,” said Sanaullah. He added that as soon as the governor will pass orders they will be implemented.
“Governor has the constitutional right to de-notify the chief minister. When the governor acts as per the Constitution then there is no question of Article 6,” said the minister.
