LAHORE: PLM-Q and PTI joint candidate Pervaiz Elahi suffered a shock defeat on Friday as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz has been re-elected as the chief minister (CM) of Punjab after Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly rejected the votes of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) on Friday.
Following the counting of votes, Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari, citing Article 63A of the Constitution, rejected 10 votes cast by PML-Q members. As a result, Hamza received 179 votes, while Elahi managed to bag 176 votes.
As Mazari announced the result, PTI leader Raja Basharat had an argument with the deputy speaker and said that since Chaudhry Sajid was the parliamentary leader of PML-Q, Article 63(A) did not apply to Elahi’s case.
“As per Sajid’s instruction, all PML-Q members were to vote for Elahi,” he said, adding that Shujaat’s letter held “no value”.
“You are depriving the candidate of his right,” Basharat accused the speaker.
As per details, Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari – who chaired the session – ruled that the votes of PML-Q lawmakers will not be counted in the election of Punjab chief minister in the light of party head Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s letter.
Pervaiz Elahi – joint candidate of PTI and PML-Q – received 186 votes, while Hamza Shehbaz got 179 votes. However. 10 votes of PML-Q were cancelled by Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari, hence taking the figure to 176.
Meanwhile, PTI Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Raja Basharat has countered the ruling of PA Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari, 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 a certain candidate. He also read the order of the Supreme Court. “The head of the parliamentary party is Parvez Elahi,” he contended.
However, Mazari said that the matter had been clarified by the Supreme Court, subsequently proroguing the session.
Earlier, Pervaiz Elahi among all Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) has voted to elect the new Punjab chief minister in the provincial assembly session.
According to reports, all 10 lawmakers of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid have cast their votes for Pervaiz Elahi – the joint candidate of PML-Q and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
