Punjab CM House to be sealed if session not held tomorrow: Sanaullah

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Tuesday threatened to seal the Punjab Chief Minister's House if the much-anticipated session of the provincial assembly does not take place tomorrow (Wednesday).

Punjab Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman has convened the meeting of the provincial assembly on December 21 (Wednesday) to deliberate on the no-confidence motion against CM Elahi.

According to a notification issued by the Punjab Governor’s Secretariat a day earlier, “The governor Punjab is pleased to sign order summoning the provincial assembly of Punjab at 1600 hours (4pm) on Wednesday and requiring the chief minister of Punjab to obtain a vote of confidence in terms of Article 130(7) of the Constitution.”

Talking to journalists in Lahore, the security czar said: “Punjab CM House will be sealed if Chaudhry Parvez Elahi does not take the vote of confidence or the assembly session does not take place.”

The Punjab chief minister will have to take the vote of no confidence even if the provincial assembly session is not held, Sanaullah added.

“Elahi will lose the chief ministership if he does not take the trust vote,” he added.

Responding to a question, the interior minister said that the governor has the power to convene the provincial assembly session.

Referring to CM Elahi’s recent statement, Sanaullah said that the no-trust move must come when the chief minister himself said that 99% of lawmakers are against the dissolution of the assembly.

‘Governor can’t convene meeting during ongoing session’

On the other hand, Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan has said that the governor could not call a meeting during the ongoing session of the provincial assembly as per the rules.

Following his meeting with PTI Chairman Imran Khan at his Zaman Park residence, the speaker said that the PDM was running away from the elections.

He maintained that they were sitting at the secretariat late at night due to the assembly session.

“There is no confusion that we (PTI) and Parvez Elahi will have work together,” he said, adding that if 13 parties can work together under the umbrella of PDM then why not two parties.

'PDM running away from elections'

In conversation with journalists in Lahore, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said the assembly's party aims to dissolve the assembly right after thwarting the no-confidence motion.

The PTI leader said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is "running away from elections" and that if the ruling parties cannot run the country, they should step down.

"We will also face the no-confidence motion with full force. No matter what you (government) do, elections cannot be postponed," he added.

Imran, Moonis ‘finalise strategy’ for dissolving PA

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Moonis Elahi called on PTI Chairman Imran Khan at his Zaman Park residence to discuss the unfolding political situation in the country.

Clearing the air, the PML-Q leader said he and Khan finalised a strategy to dissolve the Punjab Assembly. He added that the PDM could not stop holding of early elections in the country. “Imran Khan will sweep the next elections.”