The PTI has decided the future of the Punjab and K-P assemblies.
A decision by a party sounds the death knell for plans by the ruling coalition to avoid early elections.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) made the announcement on Monday in LAHORE that the senior leadership of the party has given its approval to the decision to dissolve the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in an effort to increase the amount of pressure placed on the ruling coalition to call elections sooner rather than later.
In a speech to the media, Fawad Chaudhry, who had previously served as the minister of information, revealed the new information.
“As you are aware, we have already made the announcement that we will be leaving our positions in the provincial assembly. Fawad declared that a decision had been made to dissolve both the Punjab Assembly and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. This decision had been ratified.
The leaders of the parties are certain that the strategic move will be the “death knell” for the government coalition and result in new elections despite the increased tensions in the environment. On the other hand, the ruling coalition has also taken measures to prevent the PTI from dissolving the assembly. The coalition is mulling over a number of different alternatives that are available to it in order to combat the move, including a vote of no-trust.
Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), narrowly avoided an attempt on his life earlier this month. On Saturday, at his first in-person address to a massive crowd in Rawalpindi, he shocked the government with the surprise that had been much anticipated.
The former prime minister upped the ante in his campaign to force the coalition government into early elections by announcing that he has decided to opt out of a “corrupt system and exit all assemblies.” His goal is to force the coalition administration into early elections.
According to Imran, “My party has resolved to not stay part of the current political system and instead would withdraw from all the assemblies.”
An upsurge in the number of political activity
On the other hand, there was a rush of political activities that took place on Monday, as the party started its labour to put the word into effect.
Fawad further disclosed that Imran met with the Chief Minister of K-P, Mehmood Khan, earlier in the day, and that he will meet with the Chief Minister of Punjab, Pervaiz Elahi, today (Tuesday), to discuss the dissolution of the provincial legislatures.
According to what he had stated, “Parliamentary boards have also been constituted to issue the party tickets” for the next elections.
Fawad has stated that the assemblies will be dissolved after the parliamentary meetings in the province of Punjab and the province of K-P, which are slated to take place on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
It is important to note that on Sunday, Chief Minister Pervez Elahi dismissed concerns that he would put up any resistance to the PTI’s planned dissolution of the Punjab assembly. He did so by acknowledging that he owed his government to Imran Khan and that he would comply with his instructions as soon as they were given. In this context, it is important to note that he did so.
Earlier, in accordance with the instructions given by party head Imran Khan, each of the 26 PTI MPAs representing Sindh tendered their resignations to the parliamentary leader of the party, Khurram Sher Zaman.
Khurram, while verifying the new development, stated that opposition leader Haleem Adil Shaikh is also aware of the situation, and that Haleem Adil Shaikh will submit the resignations to the Sindh Assembly as soon as he directs him to do so.
Imran, whose party is in power in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan, sprung the surprise card on the government at the Rawalpindi rally in what appeared to be a proverbial ‘burn-the-boats’ decision. He staked his provincial governments on a bid to trigger early elections “as the nation stands at the crossroads,” according to Imran’s rhetoric. “The nation stands at
It was rumoured that Imran had a “masterstroke” under his sleeve until Saturday’s huge event, and even the party workers were not informed on the plan. However, the rally was a success.
“They [the government] cannot afford to hold the Islamabad march… they are powerless to prevent millions of people from approaching Islamabad.” While making the announcement of the decision at the rally, Imran had stated that a situation similar to that of Sri Lanka was a possibility.
“If there are riots, then the situation will quickly go out of everyone’s control. “I did my best not to take any move that could create disorder in the country,” he emphasised, and he claimed that rather than inflicting harm to our country, it was better to “leave this corrupt system.” I tried my best not to take any step that could create chaos in the country.
Imran continued by saying that his party had not come to Rawalpindi for the purpose of participating in elections or politics, but he emphasised that it was necessary for the country to hold new elections. He went on to say that he did not care about the upcoming elections because they were going to be held in nine months and his party was going to win them anyhow.
The previous prime minister, who had been removed from office in April thanks to a coalition of opposition parties, had started the long march with the demand in October, departing from Lahore. After the shooting incident that occurred on November 3, the march was put on hold for the time being.
The re-arrest of Azam Swati was denounced.
Meanwhile, during the interaction with the media, Fawad stated that the central leadership of the party had denounced the re-arrest of PTI Senator Azam Swati, who had been put into custody on Sunday for allegedly tweeting against high military personnel. Swati was brought into custody on Sunday.
Since May of this year, according to the leader of the PTI, his party’s workers and supporters have been exposed to “oppression and victimisation,” and he has criticised the courts for ignoring allegations that party leaders have been tortured.
“Before Azam Swati, Shahbaz Gill was arrested and tortured before being stripped naked, but no one took notice and the court turned a blind eye,” Shahbaz Gill’s attorney said in a statement.
Also, according to Fawad, Swati, who is 75 years old, was “abducted” solely for the reason that she questioned authoritative sources.
The FIA Cyber Crime Wing filed a first information report (FIR) against Swati on November 26, and a copy of that FIR is available with The Express Tribune. The FIR was filed because of “controversial” tweets that Swati had posted recently, which were allegedly directed against government functionaries such as the chief of the army staff (COAS).
According to the findings of the inquiry, the leader of the PTI had initiated a “very unpleasant campaign of intimidating tweets” against state institutions, including the head of the army, “with malicious intentions and ulterior motivations.”
Through Islamabad Cyber Crime Reporting Centre Technical Assistant Aneesur Rehman, a First Information Report (FIR) was created in response to a complaint lodged by the state.
