Chaudhry Parvez Elahi took oath because the chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab on Wednesday, hours after the Supreme Court dealt a giant blow to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition by putting down the deputy speaker’s ruling and named the PML-Q chief as the brand new government head of the nation’s most vital political province.
In the extensively anticipated judgement on a petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) chief Elahi, the apex court docket on Tuesday declared Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari’s controversial resolution to reject 10 votes within the Punjab chief minister’s election as “illegal”.
The three-member bench — comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Muneeb Akhtar — dominated that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed candidate Elahi would be the new chief minister of Punjab, paving the way in which for a change within the nation’s most populous province and political heartland.
The apex court docket’s verdict delivered a giant blow to the Sharif-led coalition authorities because it noticed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Hamza Shehbaz, son of the prime minister, misplaced his standing of the “trustee” chief minister.
The three-member bench ordered Punjab Governor Baligh ur Rehman to manage the oath to Elahi. However, Rehman refused to carry out his duties.
Following Governor Rehman’s refusal, Elahi left for Islamabad late Tuesday night time to take oath from President of Pakistan Arif Alvi as per the Supreme Court’s order.
Alvi administered the oath to Elahi, 76, on the Aiwan-e-Sadar early Wednesday morning. President Alvi had despatched a particular plane to deliver Elahi to Islamabad for the oath-taking ceremony, Geo News reported.
Elahi, who misplaced the election held on Friday regardless of getting a majority vote, challenged the ruling of deputy speaker Mazari who handed victory to Hamza. Elahi was supported by ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) celebration.
Elahi secured 186 votes in opposition to 179 votes of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Hamza however misplaced after Deputy Speaker Mazari rejected 10 votes of his Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) lawmakers.
Mazari refused to depend the vote after PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain via a letter directed his celebration lawmakers to vote for Hamza, son of Prime Minister Sharif and PML-N president.
The Supreme Court, in an 11-page brief order, stated: “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 was patently incorrect and erroneous and cannot be sustained.” It added that the act additionally “subverted” the governance of Punjab.
As a end result, the ruling by the Deputy Speaker of Punjab Assembly is put aside and declared to be void, with out lawful authority and of no authorized impact, the apex court docket said.
In case the governor doesn’t administer an oath to Elahi, President Alvi can accomplish that as a substitute, the court docket dominated in its brief order. The court docket additionally declared all of the appointments made by Hamza “illegal” and instructed the members of his cabinet to vacate their places of work.
Soon after the decision was introduced, a jubilant crowd carrying PTI flags current outdoors the Supreme Court on the Constitution Avenue in addition to quite a few supporters on the premises burst into cheers and sloganeering.
Despite a heavy police contingent blocking the roads resulting in the apex court docket constructing, a lot of supporters managed to succeed in the venue, and people who couldn’t make it began celebrating at completely different police pickets on the way in which.
The Punjab province has been in turmoil since April which took a brand new activate Friday when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supported candidate, Elahi, was not declared a winner.
Welcoming the apex court docket’s ruling, PTI chief Khan stated, “I appreciate our SC judges for standing firm and upholding the Constitution & law, against all manner of threats & abuse.” “I want to thank the people of Punjab for coming out in unprecedented numbers in bye-elections against rigging,” the ousted prime minister tweeted.
A resurgent Khan and his PTI haven’t simply snatched the PML-N’s citadel in Lahore, they’re additionally threatening to shake the very foundations of its weak energy in Islamabad, the Dawn newspaper stated in its editorial.
“It is only a matter of time before the coalition faces increased pressure from all corners, especially the PTI, for early elections, which will be difficult for it to handle with a hostile administration in the largest province,” it stated.
“With Khan emerging as the most popular leader it will be hard for the establishment, judiciary, bureaucracy or business elite to write him off. That’s what the verdict underlines,” it stated.
Confined to Islamabad with its coalition companions, the PML-N management has restricted choices to outlive the remaining time period of the current assemblies and no room for manoeuvre in Punjab, the report stated.
The solely selection for it from right here on is to forge a stronger alliance with the opposite events — most of them already part of the coalition — within the subsequent elections and past to salvage its politics, it stated.
Addressing a press convention quickly after the decision was introduced, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb lambasted it as a “judicial coup”.
Jamiat Ulema-I-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman at a press convention in Islamabad stated that the federal government legal professionals advisable a full bench however the court docket as a substitute of reflecting and accepting the recommendation, rejected it.
JUI-F is a coalition companion within the Pakistan authorities headed by Prime Minister Sharif’s PML-N.
Pakistan’s coalition authorities criticised the apex court docket’s resolution to not kind a full bench and boycotted the court docket proceedings on Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who’s Pakistan Peoples Party chairman, had reaffirmed the boycott name, saying the demand for a full court docket was for the sake of the Constitution, democracy and the court docket’s personal integrity.
The safety was tightened across the court docket constructing the place a lot of police officers have been deployed. Paramilitary Rangers, and Frontier Corps personnel have been additionally current to assist the police.
Punjab is Pakistan’s second-largest province and any celebration ruling the important thing province controls the politics of the nation. For the PML-N, dropping Punjab means dropping the Centre. Political pundits consider that the ruling coalition is now susceptible.
Tuesday’s end result gives a “massive opportunity” to PTI chairman Khan to construct additional stress on the rulers to name for recent elections and in addition nook the PML-N in Punjab which is taken into account a stronghold of the Sharifs.
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