Daily Times

The Supreme Court Friday ruled that the re-election for the Punjab chief minister would be held on July 22 after the Punjab government, PTI and PML-Q reached a consensus on the issue.

The PTI had petitioned the apex court seeking annulment of the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision that ordered the governor to hold the re-count for the Punjab CM’s slot.

Punjab Assembly Speaker and a candidate for the CM office Pervez Elahi initially agreed that Hamza Shahbaz could remain the chief minister till July 17, but the PTI disagreed. The court accepted the plea for immediate hearing and constituted a three-member bench.

The hearing was headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, while Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail were part of the bench, too. At the outset of the hearing, PTI leader Babar Awan appeared before the court while PTI’s counsel attended the hearing through a video link.

Starting his arguments, Awan informed the court that all of the PTI lawmakers were not present in Lahore as some had gone to perform Haj, while others were attending family events.

At this, Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked that he doesn’t agree with waiting for the voting process if a member was absent, says a news report. Meanwhile, the CJP said the PTI’s plea sought time for the lawmakers who were not in the provincial capital as they were away for several reasons – marriages and performing religious obligations.

“So why should the Supreme Court intervene in this? Does the PTI want the court to give it more time? Should we intervene in LHC’s decision?” the CJP questioned.

The chief justice said the LHC’s order had mentioned that the voting would be held today. “Are you ready for it?” he asked, at which PTI sought seven days for re-polling.

The CJP responded to the request by saying that the lawmakers present in the country should have been able to reach Lahore within a day. “How much time is required for your lawmakers to reach Lahore? Do you want Punjab to remain without a chief minister for seven days?” the chief justice wondered.

CJP Bandial asked if the CM was not in the office, then who would run the province.

Moving on, Justice Ahsan said a question remains on whether the session for re-voting of the CM will be held at 4pm on Friday or not.

“Persuade us that the session should not be held, then we will decide whether it should be called today or not,” he told the PTI lawyers.

He also wondered whether there was a section in the Constitution that allowed the imposition of governor rule till the re-election of the CM. PTI’s counsel Faisal Chaudhry maintained that PTI had 169 members if the 25 dissidents were excluded. “This means you don’t have the majority,” CJP Bandial remarked.

At this, Chaudhry said that no one in the Punjab Assembly had the majority.

Meanwhile, Siddiqui maintained that the Punjab governor should run the provincial affairs till the re-election of the CM.

CJ Bandial snapped back, saying that a by-election on 20 seats is slated for July 17. “How can we stop the province from working till the by-election,” he remarked, adding that handing the reins to the governor would be unconstitutional. “We understand PTI’s concern but I don’t think the province should be left without a CM,” the CJ remarked. “Both parties will have to face difficulty if they don’t agree on re-polling,” CJ Bandial stated. The CJ added that the court was not issuing any order to hold the Punjab Assembly session as per schedule, therefore, the session shouldn’t be started until the hearing was underway. He said the court will resume the hearing at 3:45pm and wrap up by 4pm as the CJP summoned Hamza Shahbaz and Pervez Elahi.

When Elahi and Hamza arrived in the court, the CJP asked the Punjab Assembly speaker as to what should be the course of action. Elahi said both sides could give a mutual decision after consultation. At this, Justice Ahsan said, “Both of you should have come to the court after consultations.” The judge asked Hamza what he had to say. At this, the PML-N leader said, “No person was unexpandable and that the country’s system should operate uninterrupted.” Hamza said the coalition government had the numbers and asked the court to allow the election to take place today. At this, Justice Ahsan said that the 4pm deadline set by the LHC was up and that the judges would give a decision of their own – as the parties were not able to reach a consensus. Responding to the judge, Hamza said the election could also take place on July 17 – the day when by-polls take place. To this, Justice Ahsan asked Hamza whether he was ready to remain out of the CM’s Office till July 17.

The PML-N leader responded by saying that the court should decide what date should the polling take place as both the parties involved in the case could not reach a consensus. The judges then asked Elahi what was his opinion on the matter. He told the bench that he would accept any decision that the court announces, but also sought assurances that if the polling date exceeded, then no opposition member would be arrested. Justice Ahsan said that if Elahi accepted Hamza as the chief minister till July 17, then all other matters could be resolved amicably. He added that Elahi had two options, either accept Hamza as the CM or give a date for the re-election. The justice assured that no arrests would be made. At this, Elahi agreed that Hamza would retain the chief ministership until July 17. However, PTI lawyer Babar Awan protested against it and said that the party would not accept Hamza as the chief minister – bringing allies PML-Q and PTI to a crossroads over the matter.

The court then asked Elahi to consult with PTI Chairman Imran Khan and reach a consensus as it adjourned the hearing for the third time and went on a break for half an hour. Once the hearing began after the break, PTI’s counsel Imtiaz Siddiqui told the court that the parties have reached a consensus and the Punjab government had agreed to hold the polling after the by-elections – slated for July 17. The lawyer said that the parties had agreed that Hamza should remain the chief minister till the re-election. The CJP then asked Awan what were Khan’s directives regarding it. He informed the chief justice that Khan had agreed to accept Hamza as the interim CM till July 17 and had sought surety that the opposition members would not be arrested until the re-polling takes place.

Awan said Khan had reservations about the Election Commission and wanted assurances that the by-elections would be transparent. At this, the CJP asked Hamza: “Do you plan on rigging the elections?” Hamza responded by saying that he had been a political worker for the last 22 years. In response, Justice Ahsan asked Hamza to reply clearly to the CJP. “The by-elections will be transparent; there will be no rigging,” Hamza assured the court. The top court then finally said that the re-election will take place on July 22 after all the parties involved in the case gave assurances.