Islamabad, April 8 : After the Pakistan Supreme Court nullified the ruling of the deputy speaker of the National Assembly on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, the PTI and its coalition partners may find it difficult to prevent the election of the new chief minister of the province of Punjab, Dawn reported on Friday. The opposition paÂÂÂrties have also submitted a no-trust motion against Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, further squeezing space for the provincial government to maneuver. After the apex court’s decision, the ruling coalition in Punjab has again warned its MPAs not to vote for Hamza Shehbaz, who is the opposition’s nominee for the CM slot, with the threat of being de-seated. Hamza is up against the PTI-PML-Q coalition’s candidate, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. However, unlike the National Assembly where the opposition has the requisite numbers to oust PM Imran Khan and are not dependent on the support of the disgruntled MPAs of the PTI, in the Punjab Assembly are counting on the support of the defecting PTI lawmakers to get the required numbers. The PML-N plans to move the high court on Friday to seek early election of the chief minister, facilitated by the apex court’s verdict, the opposition has felt emboldened that it would get similar relief in Punjab. The opposition is further assured of success after the MPAs belonging to the Tareen, Aleem and Khokhar groups of the PTI pledged to sacrifice their seats for ensuring victory for the PML-N in getting the chief executive’s post.
with uni inputs
