CM should have round-the-clock confidence of a majority of lawmakers in the house, LHC observes.

Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Asim Hafeez remarked on Wednesday that it was compulsory for a chief minister to have round-the-clock support from a majority of lawmakers in the house.

He passed these remarks as a five-member bench comprising him, Justice Abid Aziz Shaikh, Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal, Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh, and Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabir took up Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi's plea challenging Governor Balighur Rehman's orders to de-notify him as the provincial chief executive.

Today's developments:

Lahore High Court extends 'interim relief' of reinstating Elahi as chief minister till Jan 12

Court says chief minister can't dissolve assembly until 9am tomorrow

LHC judge observes CM must have round-the-clock support of a majority of assembly members

Elahi rejects court's offer of fixing a date for a vote of confidence

PML-N asserts Elahi can't 'run away' from trust vote

Elahi's lawyer says governor's order aimed at preventing assembly dissolution

Today's hearing coincides with an ongoing Punjab Assembly session which has been marred by two consecutive days of protests from the opposition, who are demanding Elahi take the vote of confidence.

Last month, the Punjab governor denotified Elahi as chief minister of the largest province in a bid to forestall ousted premier Imran Khan's plan to dissolve the Punjab Assembly.

In his order dated Dec 22, the governor had said that since the chief minister had refrained from taking a vote of confidence at the appoAiAnted day and time, he ceased to hold office. Rehman, however, had asked Elahi to continue working as chief minister until a successor takes charge.

Subsequently, Elahi approached the court, saying the move was 'unconstitutional, unlawful and of no legal effect'.

At the previous hearing, the LHC had reinstated the PML-Q leader as the chief minister and restored the provincial cabinet as an 'interim relief' after he submitted an undertaking assuring the court that he would not dissolve the provincial assembly until the next hearing (Jan 11).

During the hearing today, the court extended the relief granted to Elahi till Thursday (Jan 12), 9am.

It also said that the chief minister could not dissolve the assembly during this time.

Take vote of confidence or go home: PML-N tells Elahi

In a tweet after the court hearing, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that Elahi had no other option but to take a vote of confidence from the Punjab Assembly.

'We have 179 numbers in Punjab which can increase as well. But, you [the PTI and PML-Q] don't have the 186 number. If you do, then Elahi should immediately take a trust vote - there is no other solution,' he said.

'I want to make it clear that they will have to take a vote of confidence anyway,'...

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