Imran announces Punjab CM will take vote of confidence before Jan11

PAKISTAN: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi will take the vote of confidence before January 11, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Sunday, The News International reported.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan's announcement comes after the Lahore High Court (LHR) reinstated Elahi as the Chief Minister after he gave assurance that he will not dissolve the legislation. However, the condition does not restrict Parvez Elahi from taking a vote of confidence.

The court's hearing on a petition filed by Chaudhry Parvez Elahi is scheduled on January 11. Speaking to reporters, Imran Khan said that he is confident about Chief Minister Elahi dissolving the assembly after he wins the trust of the house, according to The News International.

Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan said that the PTI has planned to dissolve the legislative in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the vote of confidence. He stated that the government will be forced to hold elections after the dissolution of both assemblies, as per the news report.

He stressed that the delay in elections even after PTI's move "won't affect" the party. Imran Khan predicted that the elections will take place in April 2023. His statement comes a day after he said that the elections might be conducted in March or April.

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led coalition government has repeatedly rejected PTI's demand to hold snap elections and stressed that they would take place at their scheduled time. As per the news report, the PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) are discussing the date of dissolution and seat adjustment before they head into elections. However, PML-Q has repeatedly said that they are awaiting Imran Khan's instructions regarding the date of dissolution.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday reinstated PML-Q leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi as the Punjab chief minister, The Express Tribune reported. The court's decision came after Elahi gave an undertaking assuring the court that he would not dissolve the provincial assembly if he is reinstated as Chief Minister of Punjab.

The court in its ruling also restored Punjab's cabinet, as per the news report. The court issued the directives after a five-member bench took up Elahi's plea challenging Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman's orders to de-notify him as the provincial chief executive. Shortly after reinstatement, Parvez Elahi in a tweet said, "The decision to dissolve the assemblies is final, Imran Khan's decision will be fully implemented.

The imported government wants to run away from the elections. We will present the imported government in the people's court and the final decision will be the people's.

"Meanwhile, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) rejected the decision announced by the Lahore High Court to reinstate Chaudhry Parvez Elahi as the Punjab Chief Minister, as per The Express Tribune report. The PML-N requested Pakistan's Supreme Court to review the verdict and take suo moto to "save the province from turmoil."