The Supreme Court will soon continue hearing petitions pertaining to the recently held Punjab chief minister’s reelection after rejecting the government’s request for a full court bench yesterday. At 11:30am, the proceedings will start, which the coalition has declared it will boycott in retaliation.
Arguments about the decision of Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari, which was crucial to Hamza Shehbaz’s victory, will be heard by a three-member bench consisting of Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Munib Akhtar. Mazari made the decision not to count the votes of 10 PML-Q lawmakers who had voted for Elahi during the re-election, citing a letter from PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain telling them to support Hamza instead.
The court had granted Hamza, who had been re-elected on July 22, the right to continue serving as chief minister “in trust” until July 25 during the hearing on Sunday. Yesterday, as the PML-Q leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi’s petition to challenge the CM election was being heard, the government asked for the formation of a full bench.
The CJP, however, rejected the request since a full court would mean that the case hearing would not resume until September due to the judges’ present absences. Justice Bandial had previously stated, “But we can’t allow such a condition of affairs to stretch out and continue.” The ruling alliance thereafter said that it will boycott the court proceedings in a late-night conference to express its opposition to the SC’s order.
On the grounds that they had disobeyed Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s directions, Mazari rejected all 10 of the PML-votes Q’s during the poll on Friday. He did this by referencing a letter the patriarch had sent to party lawmakers requesting that they support Hamza.
Elahi received 186 votes, while Hamza received 179, according to the deputy speaker’s announcement following the tallying of the ballots. He did not, however, appoint Elahi as chief minister. Instead, he suggested that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s orders to PML-Q members to vote for Hamza rather than Elahi held more weight as the party’s leader.
Mazari rejected all 10 PML-votes Qs during the election on Friday on the grounds that they had defied Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s orders. He accomplished this by making mention of a letter the party patriarch had written to legislators asking them to support Hamza.
Following the tallying of the votes, the deputy speaker announced that Elahi garnered 186 votes while Hamza received 179. Elahi was not, however, named as chief minister by him. As the party’s head, he argued that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s instructions to PML-Q members to vote for Hamza rather than Elahi were more persuasive.
Mazari disqualified each of the 10 PML votes cast on Friday on the grounds that they disobeyed Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. He achieved this by bringing up a letter the party patriarch had sent to lawmakers requesting their support for Hamza. Elahi won 186 votes, while Hamza received 179,
according to the deputy speaker’s announcement after the votes had been counted. He did not, however, designate Elahi as chief minister. He asserted that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s orders to PML-Q members to support Hamza rather than Elahi were more convincing in his capacity as the party’s leader.
The petition further demanded that Hamza not be allowed to swear in as chief minister. It is important to point out that earlier on Friday, Punjab Governor Baleeghur Rehman gave Hamza the oath of office.