LAHORE: PML-Q’s PTI-backed candidate Parvez Elahi has lost the Punjab chief minister’s election to PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz, after Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari ruled that PML-Q members’ votes will not be counted in the election of Punjab chief minister in light of party head Chaudhry Shujaat’s letter.

According to Mazari, Hamza received 179 votes whereas Elahi garnered 176 votes, but only after 10 votes of Elahi’s own party were not counted, which turned the tables in Hamza’s favour.

While 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.

“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.

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 were the 10 members whose votes were not counted.

The deputy speaker’s ruling was countered by PTI MPA Raja Basharat, who argued that as per the law, the parliamentary party is authorised to issue instructions to party members.

“The head of the parliamentary party is Parvez Elahi,” he contended.

However, Mazari maintained that the matter had been clarified by the Supreme Court, subsequently proroguing the session.

While the voting was underway inside the House, unconfirmed reports were circulating outside that PML-Q Chairperson Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had written a letter distancing himself from Elahi’s candidacy.

The development comes a day after PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari met Shujaat. Earlier, in response to reports that PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari had asked Shujaat to write a letter instructing PML-Q MPAs not to vote for Elahi, Shujaat said there was “no question” of issuing a letter.

Geo News journalist Hamid Mir quoted PML-Q’s Moonis Elahi as saying that Shujaat had refused to back Parvez as PTI’s candidate. Soon after, however, Moonis tweeted that a joint parliamentary meeting of PML-Q and PTI had unanimously agreed upon Parvez as their candidate for the election.

Addressing these reports, PTI leader Hammad Azhar said that the law was very clear. “It states that members can only follow the instructions of the parliamentary party, not the party leader.”

Talking to ARY News, the former attorney general of Pakistan and legal expert Anwar Mansoor Khan explained the current situation in the context of Shujaat’s alleged letter.

“If a parliamentary party went into voting and if they don’t have any clear directions, then the lawmakers will have a choice. [Then], the directions of the parliamentary leader will also play an important role.”

To another question, Mansoor said that if the parliamentary party had already given a direction then “the same parliamentary leader will be the man to issue directions within the House, and hence, there will be no issue of defection”.

However, he added that the parliamentary leader could only take notice of defection if the party head conveyed the same to him.

Mansoor said the word used in the Constitution was in the context of the parliamentary party and not the party leader, which meant “the party as a whole”. “This is crucial and the matter will likely land in the court”.

After a three-hour delay, the session started with recitation of the Holy Quran and its translation.

Taking the dais, Mazari said that on April 16, elections for the chief minister of Punjab was held for the first time during which PML-Q leader Chaudhry Parvez 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.”

Now, he went on, 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.

“Voting process will be the same as before. I will ask the secretary to announce the voting procedure,” the deputy speaker said.

MPAs cast their votes for the new chief minister of Punjab. — DawnNewsTV
After the procedure was announced, Mazari asked MPAs supporting Elahi and Hamza to gather on opposite sides. Subsequently, voting for the new CM took place was held.

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 MPA Zain Qureshi was both a provincial assembly and National Assembly member and couldn’t cast his vote.

Here, the deputy speaker ruled that under Article 223(4) of the Constitution, a member ceased to be an MNA after he became an MPA. Subsequently, Mazari allowed Qureshi to cast his vote.

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. Subsequently, Mazari turned down the objection.