Pakistan: PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz appointed Opposition leader in Punjab Assembly
Oct 23, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], October 23 : Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shahbaz was appointed as the Opposition leader in Punjab Assembly.
Notification in this regard was issued on Sunday. Hamza became the chief minister of Punjab on April 30, 2022, after which he was de-notified as the Opposition leader, reported Geo News.
The ruling coalition lost its power in Punjab after Pervez Elahi became CM.
However, the PML-N-led government lost its power in Punjab after Pervez Elahi became the province's chief minister as the Supreme Court had declared the ruling of former Punjab Assembly deputy speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari in the chief minister's election "illegal," reported Geo News.
Elahi -- who had been defeated by Hamza on July 22 during the Punjab CM's election after former deputy speaker Mazari rejected 10 PML-Q votes -- had challenged the ruling in the SC.
The Supreme Court, in an 11-page short order, had said, "We find that the understanding and implementation of the said short judgment as well as the provisions of Article 63A(1)(b) of the Constitution by the Deputy Speaker, Provincial Assembly of Punjab, Lahore (Respondent No.1) was patently incorrect and erroneous and cannot be sustained."
The order then declared Elahi as the duly elected chief minister of Punjab as it ruled that he had obtained 186 votes compared to Hamza's 179.
Recently, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz were acquitted in Rs 16 billion money laundering case.
The Special Court, Central acquitted both of them in the case lodged against them by the Federal Investigation Agency, reported Geo News.
The court announced its judgment in the mega money laundering case against the Shehbaz family after the FIA prosecutor informed the court that no money was directly deposited in the accounts of the father-son duo.
In December 2021, the FIA submitted the challan against Shehbaz and Hamza before the special court for their alleged involvement in laundering an amount of Rs 16 billion in the sugar scam case.
