Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and ally parties candidate Hamza Shehbaz Sharif was elected Leader of the House in the Punjab Assembly run-off election by securing 179 votes.
Hamza Shehbaz Sharif’s rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) joint candidate Chaudhry Parvez Elahi lost the election despite securing 186 votes after the Punjab Assembly deputy speaker rejected 10 votes of PML-Q MPAs, including that of Pervaiz Elahi.
Earlier, Punjab Assembly session to elect Chief Minister Punjab under the Supreme Court directions started 2 hours 50 minutes behind the scheduled time of 4 pm with Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari in the chair.
The speaker rejected the PML-Q MPAs votes in the wake of a letter from party President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain who had instructed the party MPAs to vote for PML-N candidate Hamza Shehbaz Sharif. Referring to the Apex Court verdict under Article 63A of the constitution, the Chair pointed out that a member who voted against the will of the party leader stood disqualified, adding that these votes could not be counted.
Speaking on a point of order, the opposition member, former law minister, Raja Basharat said Mazari cannot pass the ruling as the party president is not entitled to give such instructions but the parliamentary party, adding the PML-Q Parliamentary Party Leader in Punjab Assembly Sajid Khan had endorsed Pervaiz Elahi’s candidature the previous day. However, Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari declared Hamza Shehbaz Sharif successful as he secured 179 votes against 176 valid votes of the PTI MPAs.
Earlier, the PA session to elect the leader of the House (Chief Minister Punjab) started with recitation and translation of verses from the Holy Quran followed by Naat-e-Rasool-e-Maqbool (Peace Be Upon Him).
Speaking on a point of order treasury benches member Tahir Khalil Sindhu objected to the presence of PTI MPAs elect Syed Zain Hussain Qureshi and Shabbir Ahmed on technical grounds. The opposition member Raja Basharat defended the right of the newly elected MPAs to cast vote as they had taken oath as members Punjab Assembly.
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