LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Sunday said that Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will have to take a vote of confidence in the National Assembly.
A day earlier, in a bid to give his successor a taste of his own medicine, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan had said that his party has decided to put PM Shehbaz to acid test through “different plans”, including a confidence vote in parliament.
The PTI chief had announced the decision to turn the tables on the prime minister in an interview with a local TV channel.
“Certainly, we will fully test him [Shehbaz Sharif]. He tested us here [in Punjab]. Now it’s his turn to face the music,” he had said while responding to a question if his party can ask the premier to obtain a confidence vote.
Reiterating the stance of his ally, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) leader said that he has taken the vote of confidence in the Punjab Assembly, and Shehbaz Sharif will now have to take the vote in the lower house as well.
He also claimed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is not returning to Pakistan because he “sees the failure” of his party.
“[The] PML-N has been completely exposed,” he said, adding that the “PDM [Pakistan Democratic Movement] will have such cracks that it will not be able to rise”.
The Punjab CM said that the PML-N’s popularity has declined and will continue to hide its face even in the upcoming general election.
“It failed miserably,” said Elahi, “and now Shahbaz Sharif is waiting for some unseen help”.
Talking about the former premier, the CM said that Imran Khan has a passion for the country and is “the hope of the nation,” adding that “someone has to stand up to fix the country”.
Elahi expressed these views in a media talk in Lahore at the inauguration ceremony of Khatam-ul-Nabiyeen University – a Rs1.5 million project.
The Punjab CM said that the establishment of this university was a promise he made when he was performing Umrah and recalled the establishment of Sirat Academy in 2004.
Talking about his government’s achievements, he furthered that he had made reading the Qur’an in schools in Punjab mandatory, including its translation in the 12th year.
Elahi added that his government acted against usury and for the first time, in order to be declared married, made it mandatory for the bride and groom to take an oath that they believe in Khatam-ul-Nabiyeen.
Elahi said that it was initially said that PML-Q would back out of dissolving the assembly. “But we assured Imran that this was our commitment to him and we stood by it. They offered to give Moonis (Parvez’s son) the presidency but we refused because we didn’t want it to look like this was a trade.
“I told them we will look at these things later. There was no trade […] we did this (dissolve the assemblies) because we trust Imran and know that he is capable of leading the country,” he asserted.
Talking about the appointment of the caretaker chief minister, Elahi said that he would meet Imran today at his Zaman Park residence where the two leaders would discuss candidates. “We will give three names to the governor after consultation,” he added.
“I stand by Imran’s statement […] We took a vote of confidence, now it is time for Shehbaz to take a vote of confidence,” the PML-Q leader said, referring to the PTI chief’s statement last night in which he had said that the prime minister will be “tested” through a confidence vote in a tit-for-tat move similar to the one he himself had faced as the premier in April.