Pakistan's Punjab Province to elect new CM today
Apr 03, 2022
Lahore [Pakistan], April 3 : Pakistan's Punjab Assembly (PA) will elect a new leader of the house on Sunday following Usman Buzdar's resignation as the country is in the midst of political uncertainty as the vote on the no-confidence motion against Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is also scheduled to be held today.
This development came after the session that was held yesterday after hours of discussion between the Opposition and the leader of the house. The session was adjourned till 11:30 am today, Dawn reported.
The nomination papers for the Chief Minister position should be submitted to the Punjab Assembly house by 5 pm today while their scrutiny would commence at 6 pm, according to Dawn citing Punjab Assembly Secretary.
Earlier, Punjab Assembly Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti on Saturday said that voting for electing the new Punjab Chief Minister (CM) would not take place on Saturday.
Addressing the media, Bhatti said that in today's assembly, a new date for the election of Punjab Province CM would be issued and "there will be no [other] proceeding," Dawn reported.
Bhatti did not give any reason behind postponing the voting but did say that it was the assembly Speaker's right to set the date for voting.
Earlier, the voting for the new leader of the Punjab province was scheduled to begin on Saturday, reported Dawn.
Yesterday, the estranged leader of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jahangir Khan Tareen said that he will support the Opposition's joint candidate, Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) leader Hamza Shahbaz for the position of Punjab's Chief Minister slot.
This step was another shock for Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan as PTI announced that they will support Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) in Punjab province.
Punjab province Governor, Chaudhry Muhamad Sarwar accepted the resignation of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Friday.
Following the acceptance of the resignation, the Punjab cabinet was dissolved, reported Geo TV on Friday.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan is set to face the no-confidence vote on Sunday in Pakistan's National Assembly.
As Pakistan PM readies himself to face the "last ball", it is clear that Imran Khan has seemingly lost support both in the lower house of the legislature and the backing of the all-powerful Pakistan army.
Pakistan PM received a major blow when the PTI lost their ally, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P). The MQM announced on Wednesday that it had struck a deal with the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and would support the no-trust vote in the 342-member National Assembly.
