In a late night development, Punjab Governor Baligh Ur Rehman issued orders ‘de-notifying’ CM Punjab Pervaiz Elahi.

“I am satisfied that he does not command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Punjab Assembly,” the governor said in the order.

The order said that the governor reached this conclusion after the CM ‘refrained’ from obtaining a vote of confidence’.

This also means that the Punjab cabinet was immediately dissolved. However, Pervaiz Elahi will continue to hold office until a successor is appointed.

PTI’s immediate reaction

PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry said that the order from the governor amounted to nothing, and that the government would continue to function.

He added that a reference against the governor will be sent to the president.

In a later tweet he compared the development to use of article 58(2)(b).

“If we accept the rule that a governor can dismiss a government, then a president can also dismiss a prime minister.”

What happens next?

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi filed a petition in the Lahore High Court challenging the governor’s order if removing him early on Friday morning.

The petition argued that the governor wrongly interpreted article 130(7) of the constitution and misused his authority to issue the order.

The petition also says that the chief secretary wrongly issued a notification complying with the governor’s order, without consulting the chief minister first. The chief secretary cannot directly implement orders from a governor, Elahi’s counsel said in the petition.

PDM withdraws no confidence motion

A few hours after the Punjab governor de-notified Pervaiz Elahi as chief minister, opposition parties withdrew their no-confidence motion.

According to the parties, there is no reason left to pursue the motion as Pervaiz Elahi has already lost power.

However, they made it clear that only the motion against the speaker was withdrawn, and they would still try to proceed against the speaker and the deputy speaker.