Lahore: The Punjab Assembly session, which started after more than one hour delay, was adjourned on Sunday till June 6 12:30pm after the august house was unable to take up the no-confidence motion against Speaker Parvez Elahi.
The motion against the Speaker Punjab Assembly was disposed of as no PML-N MPA appeared in the assembly.
Earlier, the Punjab Assembly gate was opened after brief closure by the police, as both sides accused each other of deploying police and shutting the gates.
A heavy contingent of the police was deployed outside the assembly. They had also shut the doors of the assembly and stopped employees from entering it. Women police officers were also deployed. Cops in the civil dress had reportedly barred the assembly officials from entering the house despite their concern to attend the session.
A vote of no-confidence against Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari was part of the assembly session agenda, Aaj News reported.
Amidst this, Parvez had directed all the provincial lawmakers to reach the assembly at 12 noon. Punjab CM Hamza had also summoned a meeting of party and coalition party lawmakers.
The PML-N leadership has announced that it would submit the no-confidence motion against the Punjab Assembly speaker on Sunday (today), according to party leader Khalil Tahir Sindhu.
DG Parliamentary Affairs arrested
The Punjab police on late Saturday night arrested DG Parliamentary Affairs Rai Mumtaz Hussain Babar from his house as cops took action against provincial assembly officers ahead of the august house session on Sunday.
Police climbed over the walls and entered the house of the DG Parliamentary Affairs, according to the Punjab Assembly spokesperson. They had also raided the houses of secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti and coordination secretary Inayat Ullah. But, sources said the police were unable to arrest them as the secretaries were not at home.
Cops vandalized the assembly officers’ house during the raid and harassed their family members, sources said, adding that the DG parliamentary affairs have been shifted to an “unidentified location”.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Parvez slams govt
Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi condemned the arrest of Rai Mumtaz and police action at the house of other secretaries.
“All this, is happening on the orders of [Prime Minister] Shehbaz Sharif. This action of the government is fascism,” he said in a statement.
“The government has come up to new tactics after violating the sanctity of the assembly,” Parvez said while referring to the Punjab Assembly session in which Hamza Shehbaz got elected as the chief minister amid ruckus in the house.
Parvez, who is the PML-Q leader, described such attempts as “proof of government’s confusion”. He alleged that the new coalition government was taking steps against the law and Constitution.
The Punjab Assembly speaker on Saturday rescheduled the assembly session from erstwhile May 30 to May 22 (today), after the Election Commission of Pakistan de-seated the 25 dissident PTI MPAs who had voted for Hamza Shehbaz for CM office against their party direction.
“In exercise of the powers vested in me under rule 25(b) of the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab 1997, I, Parvez Elahi, Speaker, Provincial Assembly of the Punjab hereby order that the next sitting of the 40th Session of Punjab Assembly will now be held on Sunday 22nd May 2022 at 12:30 p.m. in Assembly Chambers, Lahore instead of Monday, 30th May 2022 at 01:00 p.m,” read the notification.
Though no formal agenda was issued till Saturday evening, the decision to call an assembly session shows the importance of the number game needed for the next chief minister as the house would have a vote of confidence for the leader of the house.
The current strength of the 371-member provincial assembly has reduced to 346 members after the de-seating of the 25 MPAs. The PML-N has 165 MPAs of whom five members recently withdrew their support. In addition to this, the N-league has seven PPP MPAs, four independents and one Rah-i-Haq Party MPA support. It shows the PML-N has 172 votes.
