The Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) votes’s were rejected by the deputy speaker after intense discussion and a great deal of turmoil, essentially giving Hamza Shehbaz his position as chief minister back.
His declaration was made during the vote-count at the key Punjab Assembly session, which started after a roughly three-hour delay and was intended to elect the new chief minister of the province.
According to the vote-count, Hamza Shehbaz received 179 votes, while Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi received 186 votes.
The vote count was 179 in favour of Hamza and 176 in favour of Pervaiz Elahi after the deputy speaker rejected the votes of the PML-Q while citing a letter by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.
The session began with the recital of the Holy Quran and its translation, with Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari presiding.
Raja Basharat, an MPA for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), disagreed with Mazari’s decision, arguing that the legislation allowed the parliamentary party to give orders to its members. Parvez Elahi is the leader of the parliamentary party, he asserted.
The session was then prorogued when Mazari countered that the Supreme Court had settled the issue.
Prior to it, MPs cast their ballots for Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi of the PTI and Hamza Shehbaz of the PML-N in the race to become the next chief minister.
However, Moonis Elahi of the PML-Q quickly tweeted that Pervaiz had been chosen as the election candidate by all parties in a joint parliamentary meeting.
To read our blog on “Elections in 2023 are expected to cost Rs. 47.41 billion, government,” click here.
