PMLN to focus on political capital, not legal battle

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Balighur Rahman is likely to dissolve the Punjab Assembly on Friday (today) on the advice of the chief minister, The News has learnt.

The governor received a formal advice from the chief minister at 10.10 pm on Thursday. Though he has 48 hours from the time of the advice to delay the matter before the Punjab Assembly legally stands dissolved after 48 hours, it is learnt that allied parties have decided not to put up a fight beyond their means for saving the assembly.

It was also learnt that the allied parties have decided not to push vehemently the legal battle in superior courts. Assessing the entire process, the allied parties in Punjab arrived at the conclusion that the Punjab chief minister and PTI would lose the ongoing battle in a big way.

The PMLQ-PTI coalition will instantly lose the legal blanket it enjoys through the chief minister’s office in the biggest province of Pakistan, they believe. It is learnt on authority that the coalition partners, especially the PMLN, do not want to exhaust energy in fighting legal battles, rather they desire to focus on making up for the already lost political capital. The PMLN sources said the Punjab chief minister had tried to keep the allied opposition into the loop on the no-confidence motion against him, so the assembly could be saved from PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s designs. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah confirmed the attempts made by Parvez Elahi in Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath. He said, “Parvez Elahi did not want to dissolve the assembly and asked the PMLN earlier in the day to bring in a no-confidence motion to preempt the dissolution, but the party refused.”

Rana said the PMLN was not aware that Parvez had the support of 191 members. “The governor had asked the chief minister to take a vote of confidence when 11-12 PTI MPAs contacted the PMLN to let it know that they were not in favour of the dissolution. The PTI members wanted the governor to play his role,” he added. Meanwhile, the PMLN has limited options to stop the dissolution of the assembly during the next 48 hours. Sources said the move of the chief minister asking the governor to dissolve the assembly had shocked the PMLN as it was not expecting the decision the very next day after Parvez Elahi had taken the vote of confidence. Sources said as a countermove, the PMLN may approach the Lahore High Court and challenge the voting procedure held on Wednesday night. They said another option was that the party might approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan for early hearing of a pending case of removing Hamza Shehbaz as the chief minister.

Party sources said the PMLN members, during the vote of confidence, were whispering about the party’s role in providing a smooth sailing to the PTI and Parvez Elahi in getting the required numbers. They said many PMLN members had asked the two federal ministers, who were present in the Punjab Assembly during the vote of confidence, about the absence of their polling agents and why the party asked its members to boycott the session. A female PMLN MPA, seeking anonymity, said Atta Tarar and Rana Sanaullah had assured the party leadership that the situation was in control and Parvez Elahi would not be able to get a vote of confidence. She said the party should initiate action against them for presenting wrong figures and claims to the top leadership. She said it was high time Maryam Nawaz returned immediately and re-organised the party otherwise the game would be over for the PMLN in Punjab.

Sources said the situation had created many doubts about some hidden understanding between the PMLN and Parvez Elahi and it appeared the whole procedure was scripted.

Earlier, the PMLN withdrew its motion of vote of no-confidence after the governor had de-notified Parvez Elahi and later similar motions against the speaker and deputy speaker were also taken back.

The scribe tried to contact PMLN leaders, including Atta Tarar and Azma Bukhari, but none of them was available.

On the other hand, PMLN leader Saad Rafique tweeted, “Dissolving the provincial assemblies for power is a conspiracy to deepen the economic crisis by creating political instability. Imran can also make an alliance with Satan for power. Now the competition will be held in the field. The malicious conspiracy and lies will disappear soon and the PML N would fight back on the front foot.”

Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal thanked Imran Khan on Twitter for dissolving the Punjab Assembly. “The people of Punjab have long wanted to get rid of the PTI government, which was imposed after the 2018 election by stealing the mandate of the PMLN. You went out to abolish the federal government and now you are celebrating abolishing your own government,” he stated.

PMLN’s Atta Tarar tweeted, “Good riddance, rubbish. IK has just shot himself in the foot. Alhamdulillah, political interference of Punjab Police and Anti-Corruption department and indiscriminate use of government funds have come to an end. Parvez Elahi, the billionaire fraudster, and his son went home along with the entire PTI. The bandit rule is over.”