Pakistan: Hamza Shehbaz retains Punjab CM seat after Deputy speaker rejects Pervaiz Elahi's votes

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 22 : Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz has been re-elected as Chief Minister of Punjab province after Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari rejected the votes of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
As the vote counting in the crucial session of Punjab provincial assembly began, Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari ruled that PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi's votes will not be counted in the election of the Punjab Chief Minister in light of party head Chaudhry Shujaat's letter, the Dawn reported.
According to Mazari, the joint candidate of PTI and PML-Q, Pervaiz Elahi received 186 votes, while Hamza Shehbaz got 179 votes. However, 10 votes of the PML-Q leader were cancelled by Deputy Speaker, reducing his vote count to 176.
Before announcing the result, Mazari read Shujaat's letter out loud. "As party head of Pakistan Muslim League, I have issued directions to all my provincial members to cast their votes in favour of Muhammad Hamza Shehbaz Sharif," Mazari quoted Hussain as saying, the Dawn reported.
"As per this letter, according to the ruling of the Supreme Court, all the 10 votes cast by PML-Q leaders have been rejected," Mazari ruled.
The 10 members whose votes were not counted included Hafiz Ammar Yasir, Shuja Nawaz, Muhammad Abdullah Warraich, Parvez Elahi, Muhammad Rizwan, Sajjad Sajid Ahmed Khan, Ehsanullah Chaudhry, Muhammad Afzal, Bismah Chaudhry, and Khadija Umar.
PTI MPA Raja Basharat countered the ruling saying that the law states that the parliamentary party could issue instructions to party members.
He pointed out that the party chief was not authorized to give such instructions if the parliamentary party had decided to vote for a certain candidate. He also read the order of the Supreme Court. "The head of the parliamentary party is Parvez Elahi," he said.
However, the Deputy Speaker said that the matter had been clarified by the Supreme Court, subsequently proroguing the session, the Dawn reported.
As the voting for the Chief Minister (CM) Punjab election began, PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain refused to vote for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed candidate Pervaiz Elahi. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain excused himself from voting for Pervaiz Elahi, the joint candidate of PTI and PML-Q. It was learnt that Shujaat gave a clear message to Moonis Elahi, ARY News reported.
The crucial session of the Punjab provincial assembly for the election of the Chief Minister commenced on Friday after a three-hour delay.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Fayyazul Hassan Chohan claimed that the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) was busy with 'technical manipulation', which caused the delay in the commencement of the session.
The assembly session presided over by Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari began with the recitation of the Quran and its translation, the Dawn reported.
Taking the chair, Mazari said that on April 16, elections for the chief minister of Punjab were held for the first time during which PML-N leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had not received any vote.
"While 197 votes were cast for Hamza Shehbaz. But after the Supreme Court's order on Article-63A, 25 votes were removed," he said.
"Hamza had 172 votes, highlighting that none of the members could clinch 186 votes -- required to become the leader of the house. Hence another round of voting under Article 130 (4) of the Constitution and rules and procedures of the assembly is being held," Mazari added.
After the procedure was announced, Mazari asked MPAs supporting Elahi and Hamza to gather on opposite sides.
At the outset of the session, PML-N's Raja Sagheer, who had won Rawalpindi's PP-7 seat during the recently-held Punjab by-elections, was administered his oath.
Separately, a PML-N MPA raised a point of order. He claimed that PTI leader Zain Qureshi was both a provincial assembly and National Assembly member and couldn't cast his vote.
The deputy speaker Mazari ruled that under Article 223(4) of the Constitution, a member ceased to be an MNA after he became an MPA and allowed Qureshi to cast his vote, the Dawn reported.
Meanwhile, the ruling party also raised an objection against the vote of PTI MPA Shabbir Gujjar, saying that he had a case pending in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). PTI's Raja Basharat came to Gujjar's rescue and revealed that the ECP had granted the later permission to vote. Deputy Speaker Mazari turned down the objection.
Following the delay in the commencement of the session, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter to say that, the "unnecessary delay" in the session was a "violation of the Supreme Court's orders". "We have told our lawyers to prepare for contempt proceedings," he tweeted, adding that in a while, a petition would be filed in the apex court.
PTI leader Babar Awan said the Supreme Court had ordered that the assembly session be conducted at 4 pm "today, and not tomorrow". "This is a contempt of court."
Besides, the Lahore High Court barred police from entering the assembly, which was requested by deputy speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari over the violence he endured during the April 16 election.
Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabbir pronounced the verdict on PTI lawmaker Sibtain Khan's petition, ruling that the can police enter only when the situation goes bad, the Dawn reported.
Meanwhile, before the session commenced, the Pakistan government also appointed a new provincial police chief, Rao Sardar Ali Khan replacing Faisal Shahkar.
Notably, Imran Khan-led PTI on Sunday made a "clean sweep" in the crucial Punjab assembly by-pollin Punjab bypolls. PTI grabbed 15 of the total 20 seats while PML-N won four seats and the remaining one seat went to an independent candidate.
It was a massive win for PTI in the by-elections on 20 Punjab Assembly seats. PTI candidates secured victory in Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sahiwal, and Khushab provincial assembly seats while the party took the lead by a clear majority in 15 constituencies of the province.