Avoiding no trust move: Elahi secures ‘vote of confidence’ from PML-Q parliamentary party

As Punjab Assembly waited for people to show up for the vote of no confidence against Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi, parliamentarians of his Pakistan Muslim League –Quaid (PML-Q) gathered to express their confidence in his leadership.

A meeting of the PML-Q parliamentary party was held in Lahore on Wednesday evening around the time when the vote of no confidence was to be held against him in the provincial assembly.

They reiterated that if the no confidence motion against Elahi and Speaker Sibtain Khan and Deputy Speaker Wasiq Qayyum is put to the vote, the PML-Q parliamentarians will vote in favor of them.

A source with knowledge of the meeting, however, said that this mini ‘vote of confidence’ was not unanimous.

The source explained that the PML-Q has 10 members in the provincial assembly.

However, only nine members showed up for Wednesday’s meeting.

Those who attended included Sajid Bhatti, Hafiz Ammar Yasir, Shujaat Nawaz, Muhammad Abdullah Warraich, Muhammad Rizwan, Ehsanul Haq, Muhammad Afzal and Khadija Umar.

The absentee was identified as Reserved Seats MPA Baasima Chaudhry.

The reason for her absence was not immediately clear.