Interior minister hints at imposing Governor rule in Punjab

Islamabad: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan Wednesday hinted at the im­position of the Governor’s rule in Punjab.

Federal Interior Minister said: “Chief minister who wishes to dissolve the provincial assembly must first win the assembly's trust, ” adding that "Therefore, the Punjab governor has advised the Punjab CM to get a vote of confidence from the house”.

"With this, we just want to ascertain if the Pervaiz Elahi has the confidence of the House or not," he added.

The no-trust move against Punjab Chief Minister is scheduled at 4:00 pm today, in what appears to be the strategy of the ruling coalition to counter the PTI’s move of dissolving assemblies.

If the vote of confidence is not taken by the said time then the chief minister will not hold office according to the constitution, then the governor can denotify them, said Sanaullah.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that if the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) resistance continues, Balighur Rehman can call for governor's rule under Article 130 (7) of the country, which states: “The Chief Minister shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor, but the Governor shall not exercise his powers under this clause unless he is satisfied that the Chief Minister does not command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Provincial Assembly, in which case he shall summon the Provincial Assembly and require the Chief Minister to obtain a vote of confidence from the Assembly”.

Rana stated that Elahi himself has said that 99% of the members of the assembly are not in favor of dissolution, which means that he has lost the confidence of the House.

He said that Hamza Shahbaz is the candidate for the Chief Minister slot, however, the onus will be on the party. 

Meanwhile, PTI and Pakistan Muslim League Q (PMLQ) leaders decided to nullify the letter of Punjab Governor seeking the vote of trust from Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.

What is the governor rule?

Under Pakistan's Constitution, in case of failure of any provincial government, the governorship of the province can be imposed by federal law for a period of at least six months.

During the governorship, all the powers in the province come to the governor and since the governor is the representative of the federation. Members, Ministers, Advisors, Speakers; even the highest office of the provincial government, ie the Chief Minister, do not have any decision-making power.

Their only job is to take care of the province's security, keeping ties with the federation and other provinces strong.

In addition, the governor has the power to call in the army to control the deteriorating situation in the province. Under normal circumstances, this power rests with the province's Chief Minister and the President.