Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi has signed a summary for dissolution of Punjab Assembly hours after he obtained vote of confidence from Punjab Assembly in a chaotic session that stretched past midnight.

Speaking to the media in Lahore, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry said that the Punjab CM has signed the summary asking the Governor to dissolve the provincial assembly. “The advice has been sent to the Punjab Governor.”

Fawad said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly would also be dissolved with the Punjab Assembly while elections would be held in Punjab and KP within 90 days.

Meanwhile, PTI leader Asad Umar said in a statement that for the last few weeks, the opposition was repeatedly saying that Elahi would not dissolve the assembly and that he would not be able to get the vote of confidence. “Both things proved to be wrong, he [CM Elahi] took the vote of confidence and he also dissolved the provincial assembly.”

Umar said that Elahi was saying from the beginning that the final decision would be with Imran Khan which he would accept. “A week ago it was decided to go for the vote of confidence on January 11 and it was also decided that the numbers would be completed by the evening of January 11.”

Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan had completed consultation with the party leadership and the Punjab Assembly and decided to dissolve Punjab Assembly.

During the meeting, the PTI leadership had rejected the suggestion to delay the dissolution of the provincial assembly till February and instead the assembly could be dissolved tonight. Imran Khan directed the members of the assembly to prepare for the election.

Meanwhile speaking exclusively on Aaj News programme “Faisla Aap Ka“ with host Asma Shirazi, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief whip in Punjab Assembly Khalil Tahir Sindhu said that CM Elahi had secured the votes of the lawmakers after assuring them that he would not dissolve the provincial assembly.

“Five ministers and around ten MPs came to me and said that you should somehow bring a no-confidence motion so that the assembly could not be dissolved,” Sindhu claimed, saying that several PTI members including Momina Waheed, Dost Muhammad Laghari, Khurram Laghari, Chaudhry Masood, and Faisal Cheema parted their ways from PTI.

“No member of the PML-N parted his ways with the party and all the 179 members stand with the party.”

Speaking on the same programme former advocate general Punjab and PTI leader Ahmed Owais said that if the assembly was dissolved, “then the caretaker government will be formed and it will have to hold elections within three months”. He said that it seemed that PTI would win the election with a majority.

“If the assembly is dissolved at this time, by the time of the general election which would be held in October this year, the elections of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will have been held and a five-year government will have been formed,” he said, adding that the coalition government should hold the elections simultaneously in the whole country and that the confusion will end only if the government agreed in holding early elections.