ISLAMABAD: The political drama in Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province continued on Friday after Chaudhry Parvez Elahi said the decision to dissolve the provincial assembly was “final,” shortly after assuring a local court which reinstated him as chief minister that the legislature would continue to perform it functions until the next hearing.
Elahi filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) earlier in the day after Punjab Governor Muhammad Balighur Rehman issued a notification to remove him from the office and dissolved his cabinet.
His counsel, Barrister Ali Zafar, submitted an affidavit in the court, saying Elahi would not dissolve the provincial assembly until the court convened again and took up the matter on January 11.
The chief minister was subsequently restored by the five-member bench hearing the case that also issued notices to other parties to appear before it during the next hearing.
Shortly after his reinstatement, Elahi said in a Twitter post that the decision to dissolve the assembly was “final” and was in line with former prime minister Imran Khan’s instructions who has been calling for fresh elections in the country.
“The decision to dissolve the assemblies is final,” he said. “Imran Khan’s decision will be fully implemented.”
Elahi maintained the federal government was trying to “run away from elections,” adding that its leaders would be brought before the nation and “the final decision will be made by people.”
Ex-PM Khan, who was ousted from power in April and whose Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party rules Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, recently announced to dissolve the two provincial assemblies to force the federal government to call early elections in the country.
Elahi, a key Khan ally in Punjab, told the media he would comply with Khan’s request, though he was removed by the governor, appointed by the administration in Islamabad, who claimed that he no longer commanded the majority in the provincial legislature.
As the chief minister took his case to the court, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the two main factions that submitted a no-trust resolution against Elahi, withdrew the motion.
The no-confidence resolution was no longer required as Elahi had already been de-notified and was no longer the chief minister, PML-N leader and federal minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said on Twitter.
