Following Usman Buzdar’s resignation, the Punjab Assembly (PA) will hold an important session today (Saturday) to pick a new leader of the house. The session was supposed to start at 11 a.m., but it has yet to begin.
With Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar accepting Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar’s resignation on Friday, the top ministerial seat in the largest province became empty, prompting a quick convening of the PA session for today to pick the new provincial chief.
The Punjab Assembly Speaker, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, who is from the PML-Q but is the PTI’s candidate for the vacant chief ministership, as well as Hamza Shehbaz, the PML-nominee, N’s have both arrived at the assembly.
However, Punjab Assembly Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti on Saturday said voting to elect the new Punjab chief minister would not take place today. Talking to the media in Lahore, Bhatti said only the schedule would be issued in today’s assembly session and “there will be no [other] proceeding.”
Bhatti did not give a reason why the voting would not be held today but did say that it was the assembly speaker’s right whether he set the vote for Sunday or Monday.
After CM Buzdar’s resignation was accepted, the Punjab government de-notified him, but also authorised him to “continue to hold office till his replacement enters upon the office.” The province administration also denotified all 37 provincial ministers, five chief minister’s advisers, and five special assistants to the chief minister in a series of notifications.
On March 28, Buzdar handed in his resignation to Prime Minister Imran Khan after a group of prominent MPs filed a no-confidence vote against him with Punjab Assembly Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti on the same day.
