Shujaat rules out PA dissolution, snap polls
A delegation from the JUI-F has called the leader of the PML-Q to address economic and political issues, as well as the current flour scarcity.
LAHORE: Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the leader of the PML-Q, declared on Sunday that neither the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly nor the holding of early elections nationwide were possibilities.
His comments occurred during a meeting with Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, general secretary of the JUI-F, who met with the PML-Q leader at his Lahore residence along with a party team.
Shujaat was informed by the JUI-F delegation of the issues the Baloch people are having, particularly the lack of wheat flour.
In the conference, the political and economic problems facing the nation were also covered.
The JUI-F delegation received assurances from Shujaat that neither the Punjab Assembly nor national elections will be called prematurely.
The PML-Q leader commented on the problem of rising flour prices by saying it was the responsibility of the provincial administrations to address the rising cost of commodities.
He claimed that the rising cost of flour was causing great concern among the general public and added that all leaders should prefer finding solutions to the nation’s problems, particularly the rising inflation, to occasionally sparring verbally.
In order to wait for the conclusion of the Lahore High Court hearing in Chief Minister Parvez Elahi’s de-notification issue, the PTI has chosen not to dissolve the Punjab Assembly.
After Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman de-notified Elahi for failing to call a vote of confidence in the provincial parliament on December 23, the LHC reinstated Elahi as chief minister.
Elahi promised not to dissolve the parliament prior to the next hearing on January 11, therefore the LHC stayed the governor’s notification.
Imran Khan, the chairman of the PTI, stated that the Punjab CM’s vote of confidence was contingent on the LHC’s ruling on January 11 during a meeting with senior party figures on Saturday in Lahore.
In case the court ordered Elahi to take a vote of confidence, he urged them to be ready for it.
Elahi has been attempting to persuade the PTI that the assembly’s dissolution won’t make the ruling coalition in the Center schedule early general elections.
This strategy, however, is not being well received by the PTI leadership, which is getting angry at the PML-Q for preferring to retain power versus dissolving the legislature.
The PTI informed Elahi that its MPAs would resign from both the administration and the legislature if the provincial assembly’s dissolution was postponed before tying its decision with that of the LHC.
An earlier report in this newspaper reported a PTI leader as saying that there was no longer a conflict between the PTI and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in the Punjab Assembly.
“It [the problem] is between the PTI and PML-Q,” he continued.
The PTI leader has tried every trick in the book to force early general elections since being ousted by a vote of no confidence and mass resignations of party members from the National Assembly in April of last year, but to no avail.
Imran declared that the PTI would dissolve the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies on November 26 of last year.
He has not yet been able to achieve this, though, because of various obstacles the federal government and the Elahi faction within the PML-Q have put in his way.
The case is currently being heard by the LHC, which has given all parties a chance to examine their choices before the court issues a final ruling.
