Confusing directions from PML-N let Parvez Elahi evade no-trust

In a rather strange turn of events on Sunday, the Pakistan Muslim League-N’s (PML-N) baffling directions to lawmakers helped the speaker of the Punjab Assembly avoid a no-confidence motion pending against him.

On Sunday morning, at 9:30am, a parliamentary meeting of the PML-N was held at 90 Shahrah-e-Quaid-i-Azam in Lahore. Around 197 members of the provincial assembly (MPAs) reached the venue on time, say those in the PML-N who were privy to the developments.

During the meeting, Hamza Shehbaz, the chief minister of Punjab, and Attaullah Tarar, the deputy secretary-general of PML-N, told the members that Elahi had called goons from Gujrat to capture the assembly building.

Later, Tarar, Muhammad Ahmed, Awais Leghari and Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Murtaza Hassan left for the Punjab assembly to stage a protest.

As time went by, the confused MPAs waiting at 90 Shahrah-e-Quaid-i-Azam began to ask their leadership when they will go to the assembly to vote against the speaker. No clear answer was given.

Finally, at around 12:20pm, directions were issued to the gathered MPAs to reach the assembly hall, along with those who moved the no-confidence motion on April 8.

When the men and women reached the assembly, they were stunned to find out that the session had ended and the resolution against the Punjab assembly speaker had been rejected due to the absence of the movers.

A source within the PML-N says that soon after the session, trolling of the six MPAs, who had originally moved the no-trust move against Elahi, began on social media. During which, PML-N’s MPA Samiullah Khan was called a “traitor” for abandoning his political party.

Khan’s wife and a PML-N leader, Azma Bukhari, tweeted that it was “a pity” and she was heartbroken at the allegations of “traitor” against her husband. She added that when the PML-N asked the MPAs to go to the assembly, they did.

Bukhari also shared a picture of the resolution and asked whether the other signatories of the no-confidence motion were also “traitors” or was the label only reserved for her and her husband.

PML-N’s Tarar, Awais Leghari and Malik Ahmed did not respond to repeated requests for comments.

It is important to mention that the same day the PML-N also filed a new no-trust motion against the speaker of the Punjab Assembly.