Will CM Punjab be successful in a vote of confidence?
By Chronicler
Islamabad
Per directives of the Lahore High Court, the Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, is bound to secure a vote of confidence from the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, and not much time has been left for this purpose.
Will the CM Punjab be successful in the vote of confidence and secure the simple majority in the House? Is the million-dollar question.
CM Elahi may fail to obtain a vote of confidence: The simple answer to the question is that there are bleak chances of it due to the current political scenario in Punjab. The rifts in the ranks of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and even in Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam are very apparent. These rifts are compelling the incumbent CM to avoid taking a vote of confidence from the House.
Imran Khan’s picture, taken from the internet, reasons behind Elahi’s stance on the matter: The CM is reluctant to get a vote of confidence from the House on very different grounds. He is of the view that the governor of Punjab, Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman, had unconstitutionally asked him through an order to get a vote of confidence from the assembly. He believes that if he opts for it, his stance on the matter will be compromised.
A few PTI’s MPAs are reluctant to support Elahi: There are MPAs of the ruling party, PTI, who have registered their dissident notes by vowing not to vote for Elahi in the present scenario.
Momina Waheed is amongst those voices who are publically vowing to go against the party’s policy. Momina believes that she would not cast a vote in favour of Elahi. There are media reports that around 25 MPAs of PTI would not cast a vote in favour of Elahi, and they would not be present in the House when proceedings into a vote of confidence take place in the Punjab Assembly.
The Chairman of PTI, Imran Khan, had wanted to dissolve the provincial assemblies of Punjab and KP, where his party is ruling, to build up pressure on the federal government to go for the early general election.
However, since his announcement of the connection, things have started changing, and they are not in favour of PTI.
PMAs who are against the party’s stance: A large number of PTI’s MPAs, especially from Punjab, don’t want that assembly to be dissolved, and they think the current assemblies should complete their designated terms.
The differences between Elahi and Imran Khan also surfaced over the matter of General (Retired) Qamar Bajwa. Imran Khan has strongly criticised General (Retired) Bajwa after his retirement.
On the other hand, the incumbent CM Punjab believed that the PTI chairman should stop this criticism.
Previously the PTI leaders have been claiming that they have the required number to pass the move to a vote of confidence. Recently Fawad Chaudhry had maintained that they had 187 votes in the House, which is more than enough to secure a simple majority in the assembly.
However, the current political scene suggests that the PTI would face a tough time securing Elahi’s required votes.
If Elahi fails to obtain a simple majority from the House, then the matter of this account would go into a runoff election.
During this runoff election, any party with more votes from the MPAs in the House would get elected its CM.
Elahi needs 186 votes: To be elected as CM, Elahi will need 186 votes, and if he fails to obtain the votes of as many MPAs, then a runoff election will be held in Punjab.
The opposition parties didn’t claim they had a majority in the House. On the other hand, they have been claiming that the CM doesn’t have the required number of votes to remain as CM.
Things would clear in a few days in this connection which would also dictate the future strategy of the PTI to tackle the ongoing political situation.
Ends
