The notification was subsequently sent to CM Mahmood and Opposition Leader Akram Khan Durrani.
The communiqué that provincial assembly and cabinet stood dissolved under Clause 1 of Article 112 of the Constitution.
A day earlier (Jan 17), Hamza Shehbaz, Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly, nominated Mohsin Naqvi and Ahad Cheema for the position of caretaker chief minister of the provincial assembly.
In a letter to Governor Punjab Baligh-ur-Rehman the same day, he disapproved the nominees put forth by outgoing Chief Minister Parvez Elahi.
He also had conveyed to the governor that he was appointing Malik Ahmed Khan, PM’s spokesperson, as the focal person to coordinate on the issue, since he himself was abroad at the moment.
PTI and PML-Q had decided three candidates – namely Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera, Naseer Ahmad Khan and Nasir Saeed Khosa – as their nominees for the caretaker Punjab chief minister.
Punjab Assembly stood dissolved on its own after Rehman refused to sign the summary. Elahi had urged the PDM to “think with an open heart” and said that if they did, he could see consensus being reached.
Earlier today, former PM Imran Khan said that the PMLN-led government will be forced to hold elections in April this year.
The interviewer had pointed to the analysis in the media that despite PTI’s efforts to have the polls held in Aug, the National Assembly will complete its tenure and the general elections will be held in Oct this year.
Though Imran didn’t directly deny a possibility of talks with the current regime on the current economic situation, he, between the lines, refused the prospects of a dialogue.
“Free and fair elections are the only solution [to the current economic woes],” he said when asked about the possible talks for the betterment of the country.
The PTI chief reiterated that the incumbent rulers had shredded the supremacy of law to pieces, and are now functioning scot-free despite their “theft”.
He maintained that the economy was in a really bad shape, with reserves of only $4 billion left and rising inflation and unemployment as industries continue to shut down.