Governor Punjab Baligur Rehman administered the oath of office to newly elected Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shahbaz on Saturday, a day after he was elected despite having fewer votes being polled in his favour as compared to his rival candidate Parvez Elahi.
The oath-taking ceremony was held at Governor House and was attended by federal and provincial ministers and government officials.
CM Punjab election
It is noteworthy that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz was re-elected as the chief minister (CM) of Punjab after votes of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) were rejected by the Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker.
According to the details provided, Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari ruled that the votes of PML-Q lawmakers would not be counted in the election of the Punjab chief minister, in light of a letter from party head Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.
The votes received by Pervaiz Elahi were 186, while Hamza Shahbaz received 179 votes. However, 10 votes of PML-Q were cancelled by Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari, hence the total figure for Hamza Shahbaz is 176.
Raza Basharat counters Deputy Speaker’s ruling
PTI MPA Raja Basharat has countered the ruling of PA Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari, stating that the law clearly states that the parliamentary party could issue instructions to party members.
He noted that the party head could not issue such directives if the parliamentary party had voted for a specific candidate. He then recited the Supreme Court’s ruling. “Parvez Elahi is the head of the parliamentary party,” he asserted.
However, Mazari said that the matter had been clarified by the Supreme Court, subsequently proroguing the session.
