LAHORE: The Opposition on Wednesday decided to hold a symbolic Punjab Assembly session at a local hotel in Lahore after the PTI-led government sealed off the provincial assembly.

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz have reached the hotel, while PML-N members and members of the PTI’s Jahangir Tareen and Aleem Khan are already present there.

PML-N leader and MPA Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan has claimed that more than 200 MPAs are present in the session.

The Tareen and Aleem groups have parted ways with the PTI and Prime Minister Imran Khan and decided to support the Opposition’s candidate for the chief minister’s office.

The chief minister’s office had fallen vacant after PTI’s Usman Buzdar resigned following Prime Minister Imran Khan’s decision to nominate PML-Q’s Pervaiz Elahi as the new CM.

Hours before this, the PML-N leader had said that she would attend the “Punjab Assembly ijlaas” to support Hamza — “who clearly has the majority” in the provincial assembly.

The Opposition parties are holding a symbolic session of the Punjab Assembly — like the one held in the National Assembly after the no-confidence motion was dismissed by Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri — where they will elect Hamza as the new chief minister.\

Meanwhile, the crisis in the Punjab Assembly deepened after the PTI filed a no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari and the joint Opposition also decided to file a similar motion against Speaker Pervaiz Elahi.

The political situation took a new turn after Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari decided to summon a session today, instead of April 16 — a decision that drew the PTI and PML-Q’s ire, and they refused to accept it.

On the instructions of Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, a heavy contingent of police has been deployed outside the assembly secretariat to avoid any untoward situation.

Elahi also banned the entry of media persons to the provincial assembly, security staff confirmed.

The security of the provincial legislature has also put up barbed wires on the main gate of the assembly.

Speaking to Geo News earlier today, Mazari had said that the Punjab Assembly secretariat was “not cooperating” with him.

“I did not consult the Punjab government, the PTI or the speaker. I summoned the Assembly session in light of the Supreme Court’s orders,” Mazari had said.

The speaker, Elahi, has also withdrawn the powers of the deputy speaker.

Number game in Punjab

Both candidates — Hamza and Elahi — need at least 186 votes in the House of 371 to win the poll for the slot of CM Punjab.

With the house comprising 371 MPAs, the PML-N seems highly optimistic about regaining the crown of Punjab that it lost in 2018.

The Opposition claims that its joint strength comprising its own 160 MPAs (PML-N total strength is 165 out of which five MPAs are siding with the government), seven MPAs of PPP, and the rest from the rebel groups of PTI headed by Tareen and Aleem and four out of five independents, stands above 188.

On the other hand, the ruling coalition’s candidate has also used his experience and influence in winning the support of the JKT group’s MPAs. MPA Rafaqat Gilani, a part of the JKT group, has publicly claimed that he was “siding with Imran and cannot leave him at a crucial time”.