The crisis in Punjab continues to have a spillover effect on the country’s political landscpae, most notably in the Khyber-Pakhtunknwa province following PTI chief Imran Khan’s announcement that the two provincial assemblies would be dissolved on Friday, December 23.

But that is no longer happening with KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan saying that the KP Assembly would be dissolved after a similar outcome has been achieved in Punjab.

Speaking go the media outside the Hayatabad Sports Complex in Peshawar on Thursday, Mahmood said that Imran would first decide the future of the Punjab Assembly. “Currently, PTI is deliberating the matter of the Punjab Assembly. The decision regarding the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly will be taken after these discussions.”

Khan stated that he was awaiting instructions from Imran Khan following which any action would be taken.

KP government spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif had said the same while speaking to the media earlier in the day.

Punjab’s pain

The dissolution of the Punjab Assembly will not take place on December 23 as planned, PA Speaker Sibtain Khan said earlier today.

The situation came to the point with the Punjab governor asking the speaker to take a vote of confidence while PPP and PML-N lawmakers in Punjab moved no-confidence motions against the chief minister to stop him from dissolving assemblies.

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Sibtain Khan said that the motion has been gathered but a notice is yet to be issued on it.

Nonetheless, Sibtain said, the PA cannot be dissolved on Friday with the matter likely to go to the first week of January.

On the question whether the governor could de-notify the chief minister, Sibtain Khan said that if this precendence was followed, then the president could de-notify the prime minister.

The PA speaker added that he had stopped the dispatch of a letter to the president. It was reported earlier that the speaker had written a letter formally asking the president to remove the Punjab governor over ‘miconduct’ and ‘unconstitutional steps’.

The speaker also talked about the rules of the Punjab Assembly, pointing out that according to Article 130(7), the governor has to call a new session. The governor cannot call a new session when a session is ongoing and has been prorogued.“

He said it did not matter whether the speaker’s ruling was given in the House or in the chambers. “I am writing to the governor again today regarding the powers I have under articles 209A and 235.”

Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman, in his response to the speaker’s ruling, also termed it “unconstitutional”.

In his order, the governor said under Article 130(7) of the Constitution that PA speaker’s ruling had no bearing on his order and termed it unconstitutional. The governor said the speaker’s ruling was also in violation of Rule 209 of the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, 1997.

Meanwhile, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said that the no-confidence motion against Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi would be completed, after which the assembly would be dissolved.