With all eyes on the National Assembly session for the no-trust move against Prime Minister Imran Khan today, the opposition on Monday submitted a no-confidence motion against Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar in the provincial assembly, reported Aaj News.

At least 119 lawmakers -- including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan People’s Party MPAs -- have signed the document of no-trust motion against the chief minister in the Assembly Secretariat. The names included Rana Mashhood, Syed Hassan Murtaza, Ramzan Siddique, Malik Ahmad Saeed Khan and Mian Naseer Ahmad.

“Majority of the House does not have confidence in [Punjab] Chief Minister Usman Buzdar as he is not running the affairs of the province according to the Constitution. He has smashed the democratic norms in Punjab owing to the ongoing situation in the country. Therefore this House has expressed no-confidence against the chief minister,” read the document submitted in the Assembly Secretariat, a copy of which is available with Aaj Digital.

Estranged ruling party lawmakers from the Tareen group have called for removing Buzdar as a condition to talk to the government about the no-confidence motion. However, the PTI leadership has refused to do so and is looking for other options.

Meanwhile, in the lower house of parliament, the session for tabling the no-trust motion against the prime minister will resume today. However, the voting on the move is expected to take place on April 4.

"More than 200 members of the provincial assembly will support it [no-confidence motion]," PML-N leader Rana Mashood said while talking to Aaj News.

PPP leader Hasan Murtaza told Aaj News that the development took a long time and also echoed Mashood's words that over 200 provincial lawmakers would support it.

Out of 371 MPAs in Punjab Assembly, 183 lawmakers belong to ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, 165 to PML-N, 10 to Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid, seven to PPP, one to Rah-e-Haq and five MPAs are independent, according to the Aaj News statistics. At least 19 disgruntled MPAs of the ruling party belong to Tareen group.

On the other hand, as many as 126 MPAs of the opposition requested the House speaker to summon the session of the provincial assembly under Article 154 (3) read with Article 127 of the Constitution.

“The Council shall have a permanent Secretariat and shall meet at least once in ninety days: Provided that the prime minister may convene a meeting on the request of a province on an urgent matter,” read Article 154 (3) of the Constitution.

While Article 127 of the Constitution is related to the provisions relating to National Assembly to apply to the provincial assembly.

As per laws, the speaker is bound to summon a session of provincial assembly within 14 days of submitting the no-confidence motion against a chief minister. Also, after submission of the no-trust move against the chief minister, he can't dissolve the assembly.

Addressing media after submitting the motion, PML-N leader Rana Mashhood said signatures of the PPP and PML-N lawmakers on the no-trust-move were obtained ahead of the submission of the no-confidence motion against the prime minister in the National Assembly.

“This is the decision of the Punjab people as no one wants an incompetent chief minister in the province who has failed to provide relief to people and reduce inflation in Punjab,” he said, adding that the development was significant, especially after the records of “good governance” established by former chief minister Shehbaz Sharif in the province.

He claimed that the opposition would bring all the apparent corruption of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, especially the alleged corrupt practices of the chief minister, in front of the public and would do “strict accountability” of them.

Mashhood said at least 125 lawmakers signed the motion against the chief minister, while more than 200 MPAs would back the move on the day of voting in the Punjab Assembly.

The PML-N leader refrained from answering the number of the ruling PTI MPAs who would support the motion against the chief minister in the House.

A no-confidence motion would also be submitted against Senate chairperson and other high post public office holders, he added.

Talking to the media, PPP MPA Hassan Murtaza expressed confidence in the victory of the motion and said the opposition did not have "any backing from anonymous figures" and it was the first no-confidence motion “in the history of Pakistan which has public support”.

“The fascist government and fascist chief minister have bankrupted the country economically as well as morally. They have failed to address the sufferings of people, including the inflation,” he added.

He slammed the “derogatory language” used by the federal ministers and the prime minister, especially in the public gathering held in Islamabad on Sunday.

Murtaza also referred to the warning of Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed to PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto’s comments related to First Lady Bushra Bibi, saying: “We will reply every stone with a brick and no one will be spared.”