Daily Times

The Punjab Assembly convened an emergency session to elect the province’s new chief minister.

The Punjab Assembly session was adjourned on Sunday until April 6, but on April 5, Punjab’s advocate general assured the Supreme Court that the provincial assembly would convene on April 6 as required by the constitution.

Following the assurance from the Punjab advocate general, the provincial assembly session was further postponed until April 16.

After Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari approved the order, the notification for holding the session on April 16 was also issued.

In an unexpected move, Dost Mazari, the Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, convened a provincial assembly session in the early hours of Wednesday to elect the province’s new chief minister.

Additionally, a notification was issued stating that the “40th session of the Punjab Assembly will now be held on Wednesday at 7:30 PM for the election of the chief minister of Punjab.”

The political temperature and uncertainty in the country have already increased as the President dissolved the National Assembly on the advice of the Prime Minister; however, both the government and opposition are engaged in political maneuvering for the CM’s position.

Following Pervaiz Elahi’s announcement that he would support the government in the no-trust motion, the Prime Minister asked Usman Buzdar to resign and nominated Elahi of the PML-Q for the CM post.

On the other hand, a coalition of opposition parties led by disaffected PTI leaders Aleem Khan and Jahangir Tareen declared their unwavering support for PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz.

Punjab “number game”

Both candidates require a minimum of 186 votes in the 371-member House to win the CM Punjab position.

With 371 Members of Parliament, the PML-N appears to be extremely optimistic about reclaiming the Punjab crown it lost in 2018.

The Opposition claims that its combined strength exceeds 188, including its own 160 MPAs (the PML-N has a total of 165 MPAs, five of whom are siding with the government), seven MPAs from the PPP, and the remainder from PTI rebel groups led by Jehangir Khan Tareen (JKT) and Abdul Aleem Khan, as well as four out of five independents.

On the other hand, the ruling coalition’s candidate has used his experience and influence to secure the support of JKT group MPAs; publicly, JKT group MPA Rafaqat Gilani stated that he was “siding with Imran and cannot abandon him at this critical time.”