Elahi suffers shock defeat as Hamza retains Punjab CM position after deputy speaker's contentious ruling
Counting of votes for the new chief minister of Punjab is underway. — DawnNewsTV
Voting for the election of the next chief minister of Punjab begins. — DawnNewsTV
In a shock result, PML-Q's PTI-backed candidate Parvez Elahi lost the Punjab chief minister's election to PML-N's Hamza Shehbaz on Friday, after Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari ruled that PML-Q members' votes were not counted in light of party head Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain'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.
Soon after the contentious ruling was announced, PTI leader Asad Umar tweeted that the party would approach the Supreme Court tonight.
Mazari excludes PML-Q votes citing Hussain's letter
While announcing the result, Mazari read Hussain'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 Article 63-A of the Constitution — which explains defecting lawmakers — the direction of vote lies under the parliamentary leader.
Mazari maintained that the law was "clear" and stated that the directives must be issued by the party leader. At this, Basharat, who was holding a copy of the Constitution in his hand, read out loud the Article 63-A(1)(B).
The law states: "If a member of a Parliamentary Party composed of a single political party in a House, votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the Parliamentary Party."
Mazari insisted that the matter had been clarified by the Supreme Court.
Basharat countered that the leader of the parliamentary party was Chaudhry Sajid, who he said had passed the directions to the party's MPAs. "We had a meeting of the parliamentary party yesterday and it was decided that votes will be cast in favour of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi.
"Your ruling is eliminating the nature of the candidate itself. Chaudhry Parvez Elahi can't vote for himself," he said.
Mazari said he had spoken to Hussain over the phone himself and the PML-Q leader had confirmed the validity of the letter thrice. "He has given the letter as the party chief."
He said he was simply following SC's orders. "Go and read the SC's verdict on defection."
Subsequently, Mazari proceeded to read out the ruling. "... I hereby disregard and exclude the votes of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. As a consequence, Hamza Shehbaz Sharif is declared return candidate for the office of chief minister, having received majority votes of members present and voting."
The deputy speaker then proceeded to prorogue the session.
The development of Hussain's letter came a day after PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari held a meeting with him. However, at the time, Hussain had said there was "no question" of issuing such a letter.
While the reports of Hussain's letter were circulating, 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."
Session began after 3-hour delay
Earlier, the session, originally scheduled to commence at 4pm, began after a delay of almost three hours.
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, 25 votes were removed after the Supreme Court's order on Article-63A."
Now, he said, Hamza had 172 votes, highlighting that none of the members could clinch 186 votes — the number 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.
After the procedure was announced, Mazari asked MPAs supporting Elahi and Hamza to gather on opposite sides. Subsequently, the voting was held.
Qureshi, Gujjar allowed to vote despite PML-N's objection
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 him permission to vote. Subsequently, Mazari turned down the objection.
Where do the parties stand?
PTI claims Mazari refused to chair session
Earlier, PTI leader Shafqat Mahmood claimed that Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari had "refused to chair" the Punjab Assembly session.
"PTI and Q League have a clear majority otherwise the session would have started," he tweeted, demanding that incumbent CM Hamza Shehbaz should quit.
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