LAHORE: The crisis in the Punjab Assembly deepened on Wednesday after the PTI filed a no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari and the joint Opposition also decided to file a similar motion against Speaker Pervaiz Elahi.
The political crisis took a new turn after Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari decided to summon a session today, instead of April 16.
Earlier today, Deputy Speaker Mazari in a conversation with Geo News had said that the Punjab Assembly secretariat was “not cooperating” with him. He had added that the session called today, in line with the assurances given to the Supreme Court by the provincial law officer, would take place.
“I did not consult the Punjab government, PTI or the speaker. I summoned the Assembly session in light of the Supreme Court’s orders,” Mazari had said.
Ahead of Mazari’s conversation with Geo News, sources had confirmed that the secretary of the assembly refused to follow the orders of the deputy speaker.
The sources said that the secretary is refusing to call the session as it cannot be summoned on a “simple piece of paper”.
On the other hand, Punjab Assembly Spokesperson Zain Ali Bhatti shared that the session will be held on April 16.
“Till an official letter is not issued, the first order will remain in place,” said Bhatti. He added that the assembly is being refurbished due to the damage done to the hall in the last session.
When Mazari was asked a question about the validity of his orders, the deputy speaker said that the “notification was not fake”. He added that the notification summoning the session on April 16 was also issued by him and has been cancelled.
PTI submits no-confidence motion against Mazari
With the controversy surrounding the orders of the deputy speaker summoning the assembly session for the election of the Punjab CM, the PTI submitted a no-confidence motion against Mazari.
The no-confidence motion has been moved by the PTI under Article 53-7-C and Article 127. The PTI, while filing the motion, had said that the deputy speaker with today’s orders has violated the Constitution.
“The affairs of the House under the supervision of the deputy speaker were not being conducted in accordance with the Constitution,” said the motion.
Following the submission of the motion, PML-Q said that Deputy Speaker Mazari is “no longer authorised” to summon a session.
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