Governor Punjab de-notifies CM Pervaiz Elahi
Pakistan
Governor Balighur Rehman de-notified Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on late Thursday night.
LAHORE (Dunya News) - The constitutional crisis has deepened further in Punjab as Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman de-notified Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on late Thursday night.
It has been said in the notification that it is believed that the Chief Minister does not have the confidence of the majority of the members of the assembly.
The notification further stated that the Punjab cabinet has been dissolved.
According to the notification, Pervaiz Elahi will continue to hold office until the election of the new leader of the House.
The notification read: “Consequent to the facts that Ch. Pervaiz Elahi, Chief Minister Punjab refrained from obtaining vote of confidence at 1600 hrs yesterday, in line with an Order under Article 130(7) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan issued under my hand on 19t December 2022, in line with Rule 22(7) of the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, 1997, and that he still has not done so even after the lapse of another twenty four hours, I am satisfied that he does not command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Punjab Assembly, and therefore ceases to hold his office with immediate effect.”
Reacting to the Baligh-ur-Rehman’s tweet, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the Punjab Governor s notification of de-notification to the Chief Minister has no legal status.
He said that Pervaiz Elahi and the provincial cabinet will continue to perform their duties.
The PTI leader went on to say that a reference will be sent to the president against the Governor and the action to remove him from office has been initiated.
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) December 22, 2022
PM Shehbaz bars governor from denotifying CM Elahi
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had restrained Punjab Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman from denotifying Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi.
At a meeting held at the Governor House, the law ministry and lawyers proposed against denotifying CM Elahi. PM Shehbaz Sharif directed Mr Rehman to consult the legal team over this matter.
The legal team said "how the chief minister could be denotified, considering the fact that he did not refuse to take the vote of confidence."
Provincial assembly to be dissolved after voting on no-trust motion
Talking to media in Lahore on Thursday, Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan said that the provincial assembly will be dissolved after voting on no-confidence motion.
Sibtain Khan while launching a tirade against Governor Punjab Baligh-ur-Rehman said that his intentions are not good and this thing can end if he takes back his letter.
He said that time has not come for action against the Governor under Article 6 of the constitution, adding that he cannot chair the session when voting against Speaker is held and the chief minister can chair the session on the day of voting against the provincial assembly speaker.
The Speaker went on to say that the complications made by the federal government are needed to be addressed, adding that the no-confidence motion is submitted yet, notices are still to be issued, adding that voting is expected to be held in the first week January.
He further added that with the submission of no-confidence motion, the assembly cannot be dissolved tomorrow [Friday].
He further said that whether the session is going on or not, the Governor can call a special session but he cannot de-notify anyone but if he went for de-notification, we will write letter to the President.
“I am sending a letter to the Governor again today as I have to abide by the constitution and the law and I will tell the governor not to pass these illegal orders,” he added.
