Elahi’s Dilemma

The PTI wants the CM to get a vote of confidence this week but their ally may have a different plan

LAHORE: The Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) coalition government in the Centre might be in trouble due to internal differences. However, the two allied parties which rule Punjab – the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) – are also at odds.

PTI chief Imran Khan wants Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi – whose party, the PML-Q, is a junior coalition partner of the PTI in the country’s most populous province – to take a vote of confidence from the house this week only to dissolve the provincial legislature.

However, Elahi has categorically stated that seeking a vote of confidence from the house would mean legitimizing the Punjab governor’s illegal order.

Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman on December 20 asked Elahi to take a vote of confidence from the house as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) submitted a motion of no-confidence against Elahi to block the PTI’s plan to dissolve the Punjab Assembly.

On December 23, the governor de-notified Elahi for not complying with his instruction. A Lahore High Court (LHC) bench, however, restored the CM on December 24 on the promise that he would first seek a vote of confidence from the house and would not dissolve the provincial assembly till January 11.

“As I do not consider the governor’s order (seeking trust vote) as legal and legitimate, I will not go for it since it will legalize an illegal move,” the CM told media during a visit to the Chaudhry Parvez Elahi Institute of Cardiology in Wazirabad on January 5.

A day earlier, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry had told media that the ruling coalition would go for a vote of confidence before January 11, the day when a LHC bench would resume hearing of a petition of Parvez Elahi challenging the governor’s move.

In the wake of the CM’s latest statement, the PTI leaders held an emergency meeting in which Imran Khan said he would not tolerate any delay in dissolution of the assembly. He conveyed to his junior ally that he will have to take a vote of confidence from the house before January 11 at any cost.

Elahi’s statement and the PTI’s reaction has further complicated the political situation in Punjab.

In another twist, the Punjab Assembly speaker on January 2 announced holding the provincial assembly session on January 9 instead of January 11, with rumor mills going into overdrive about Elahi getting ready to take a vote of confidence.

Meanwhile, the speaker, in a statement, said the assembly would be dissolved after resolution of all constitutional and legal complications. He denied the media reports which claimed that Imran Khan had talked about not dissolving the provincial assembly.

He said both the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies would be dissolved whenever the PTI chairman would issue directions to the effect. He said the ruling coalition of the PTI and PML-Q had enough lawmakers to get Elahi elected as the CM in case of a no-confidence vote.

“The treasury MPAs will not disappear [on the day of voting] even if someone wishes so,” he quibbled.

However, a majority of the lawmakers are of the opinion that there are very slim chances of the chief minister going to seek a confidence vote. They believe that the session has been called on January 9 to delay the issue and stop any move by the governor to force his way.

The legal experts believe that there is no bar on Parvez Elahi to take a vote of confidence under the LHC order. The CM will be allowed to take his own decision to prove his majority in the provincial assembly.

Meanwhile, some of the PTI members of the provincial assembly have openly revolted against the Punjab CM and claimed that they would not give him the vote of confidence.

The members include Syeda Zehra Bukhari, Momina Waheed, Dost Muhammad Mazari, Muhammad Masood and Khayal Kastro.

Explaining her stance in a TV programme on January 5, Momina Waheed said PTI legislators were dejected as Elahi was announcing and executing development projects for Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin only – areas regarded as the PML-Q’s bastions.

She also claimed that some other MPAs might also abstain from voting for Elahi though she denied lobbying to support her claim.

Meanwhile, PML-Q’s female MPA Bisma Chaudhary who is a niece of CM Elahi is in the US; Waseem Badozai is in the UK and Shamsa Ali is in Dubai.

Insiders allege that most of the members who have revolted against the chief minister and claimed that they would not cast their vote are in fact doing so at the behest of Elahi.

They claim that CM Elahi through such revolts tries to create the impression that there is a revolt-like situation in the PTI and he would not succeed in getting a vote of confidence from the house.

Interestingly, MPA Bilal Warraich, who won the last general election as an independent candidate supported by the PML-N, called on PTI chief Imran Khan and announced to vote in favour of Elahi.

In another surprising development, the PML-N withdrew the no-confidence motions it had submitted against the speaker and deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly.

Speaking to Bol News, PML-N leader Rana Mashud said they had withdrawn the no confidence motion against the speaker and the deputy speaker as they feared that the speaker and his deputy would hold voting on their motions instead of seeking a vote of confidence from the CM.

He claimed that after withdrawal of these no confidence motions, the burden would be on the chief minister to prove his majority in the house.  “We would again file a no confidence motion against the speaker and deputy speaker once the CM is removed.”

Sources privy to the matter said the PML-N withdrew the no-confidence motion as despite hectic efforts by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and the PML-N, they could not muster the needed support of enough lawmakers to succeed in removing the speaker and the deputy speaker.

They therefore withdrew the motions in the name of a change in strategy, said a source.

The PML-N leaders told media outlets that the opposition had put complete focus on the vote of confidence against Chief Minister Parvez Elahi rather than the PA speaker and deputy speaker.

Wazirabad visit

During his visit to Wazirabad, the CM also expressed displeasure at recent media statements by some senior PTI leaders and advised them to act responsibly as “Punjab government is also their party’s government.”

In the same interaction with the media, Elahi said: “Imran Khan is a truly honest and dedicated leader the nation has got after Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.”  He said the Punjab government was progressing according to the vision of Imran Khan.

To a question regarding PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry’s criticism of Gujrat district police officer Ghazanfar Shah who had recorded on his mobile phone the confessional statement of the man who allegedly opened fire on Imran Khan during a public rally, the CM said investigation was underway.

He said a team might go to the US to get the statement of the then inspector general of police (IGP) whom Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has allegedly sent to the US for a refresher course, implying that the former Punjab IGP had ordered the officer to record the confessional video.