PML-N and PPP leaders on Friday withdrew the no-confidence motion against PML-Q leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi who had been serving as the Punjab chief minister with the help of the PTI as the parties consider it unnecessary after Elahi ceased to be the chief minister following his de-notification. The opposition leaders headed by PML-N chief whip Tahir Khalil Sindhu reached Punjab Assembly to withdraw their no-confidence motion submitted on Monday, citing that the Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman’s notification to remove Elahi as chief minister yesterday made the notice “infructuous”.

Sindhu clarified that only the no-trust motion against Elahi had been withdrawn and the ones against the Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan and the deputy speaker would remain. In a tweet, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique reiterated the reasoning for the withdrawal. “Both Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies are now secure,” Rafique said on Twitter. “PTI should perform in their remaining governments instead of making failed attempts to create agitation and chaos.” The Punjab Assembly’s ongoing session will be held today following the speaker’s disposal on Tuesday of the governor’s order for Elahi to obtain a vote of confidence from the house, terming it “against the Constitution and Rules of Procedure”.

Punjab Governor Baligh ur Rehman had then directed Elahi to seek a vote of confidence from the assembly on Dec 21 after the opposition had submitted a now-withdrawn no-confidence resolution against Elahi. Late Thursday night, the Punjab governor denotified Elahi as the chief minister of Punjab, with the order stating that since the chief minister had refrained from taking a vote of confidence at the appo­i­nted day and time, he had ceased to hold the office.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP