Sanaullah hopeful Punjab CM Parvez Elahi will be de-notified today

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 06 Jan 2023

The political crisis in Punjab is likely to deepen as Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Thursday said that the notification to de-notify Chief Minister Parvez Elahi should be issued today.

He said that the notification to summon an assembly session for the election of the new Punjab chief minister should also be issued today.

He said that the provincial government is responsible for maintaining law and order in the province.

The minister said that, however, the federal government has the option for deployment of paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Constabulary (FC) for the assistance of the police force.

Later talking to the media outside Punjab Governor House, Sanaullah said that Elahi was no more the executive of the province as he did not take vote of confidence from the legislature.

He said that the notification for de-notifying the CM was only a formality as constitutionally, Elahi no more holds the post.

The federal government will issue the notification as soon as it receives the governor’s order, he added and said that Governor Rule in Punjab can be imposed for two months on the governor’s advice after the federal cabinet’s approval.

To a question, he said that the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) has not finalized any name for the role once Elahi is de-notified, adding that their candidate would probably be Hamza Shahbaz who is also the parliamentary leader of the party in the Punjab Assembly.

The interior minister in response to a question did not rule out the possibility of the arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

The federal government on Wednesday issued directives to deploy the paramilitary Rangers (which operate under the federal interior ministry) outside Lahore’s Governor House to protect it from protesters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Amid political mayhem in the province over the vote of no confidence against Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi and attempts by the PTI to dissolve the provincial assembly, the federal government directed the Punjab chapter of Rangers to deploy “sufficient” strength for the protection of the Governor House.

The notification, which was issued by the Rangers Section officer Shoukat Ali Khan in Islamabad, directed the Punjab Rangers Director General to beef up security around the Governor’s House in coordination with the Governor House.

The federal ministry directed Rangers troops to guard the Lahore Governor’s House as per the Sections 7 and 10 of the Pakistan Rangers Ordinance 1959.

The deployment will remain in place until further orders.