A day after the opposition was caught off-guard by the last-minute shock the ruling party delivered to it in the National Assembly, the leaders of the joint opposition on Monday seemed alarmed as they rolled up their sleeves to avert the same fate in Punjab – the centre of the political ground.
The alarms were stirred by the whispers that the government, after dissolving the National Assembly, was now seeking to force the same outcome in Punjab and impose governor’s rule in the province.
Reeling from a rebuke, the joint opposition is deliberating on ways to resist any such measure from the government, sources said.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has directed its lawmakers in the province to remain vigilant and has sought the support of dissident PTI groups – Aleem Khan and Tareen Khan groups – in this regard.
The sources further shared that all leaders of the joint opposition have agreed to work together under a common strategy until April 6 – the day when the Punjab Assembly is expected to vote to elect the new leader of the house.
“If the voting takes place on April 6, all members will go to the assembly together,” the PML-N insiders said, adding that the Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz has sounded alarms that the “situation in Punjab is very dire” as the government could possibly take any “unconstitutional step”.
Meanwhile, the newly-appointed governor of Punjab, Omar Cheema, called on Prime Minister Imran Khan after which the prime minister has decided to visit Lahore to deal with the political crisis in Punjab.
