Lahore (Web Desk): The leaders of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and other coalition parties of the government are meeting in Lahore today (Tuesday) on the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
In a statement, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurnagzeb said that the government’s coalition partners and PDM leaders will hold consultation on important matters and review overall situation in the country.
The development comes after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) bagged 15 out of 20 seats of Punjab Assembly in the by-elections held in 20 constituencies on Sunday, in a teeth-biting contest against the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Backed by its coalition parties, PML-N could obtain only four seats while one independent candidate also got victory in the by-elections.
It is pertinent to mention that the 20 seats of Punjab Assembly fell vacant after the ECP de-seated the PTI lawmakers for voting for PML-N's candidate Hamza Shehbaz in election for the chief minister’s slot.
After the PTI's victory in Punjab by-elections, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi will now most likely replace Hamza Shahbaz as the new chief minister of the province in the coming days.
Before the by-elections, the PTI and PML-Q had already jointly attained the strength of 173 (163 of PTI and 10 of PML-Q).
However, after the elections, with 15 additional seats, this strength has reached 188 whereas the figure for the simple majority stands at 186.