Hamza Shahbaz elected CM Punjab as PTI MPAs boycott session after ruckus

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Hamza Shahbaz was elected Chief Minister Punjab after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and allied parties boycotted the session after ruckus which saw police enter the house, ARY News reported.

Hamza Shahbaz got 197 votes from the house.

The session chaired by Dost Mazari was earlier delayed after some MPAs attacked Dost Mazari and he called Punjab police. Later, the brawl between the ruling alliance MPAs and joint opposition lawmakers resulted in Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi being left injured.

Hamza Shahbaz was the joint opposition’s candidate while PTI and allied parties favoured former Speaker Pervaiz Elahi for the coveted slot.

Pervaiz Elahi claimed that the attack on him was an “assassination attempt” as the attackers cried “Maar Do” (kill him) while hitting him.

Earlier, a number of ruling alliance MPAs attacked Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari and threw lotas at him forcing him to leave the house.

The ruling alliance’s MPAs were of the view that Dost Mazari has sold his conscience to opposition despite getting elected on PTI ticket and is therefore ineligible to preside over the Punjab Assembly session.

Pervaiz Elahi, Fawad Chaudhry criticize LHC decision

Fomer Speaker Pervaiz Elahi and PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry both criticised the LHC decision which restored powers of Dost Mazari and ordered him to conduct CM Punjab’s election.

Both were of the view that the court doesn’t hold the right to interfere in the matters of legislature.

Read more: Punjab Assembly: Police enters house, takes MPAs into custody after brawl

A two-judge Lahore High Court (LHC) bench had upheld a single bench’s April 13 verdict that restored the Punjab Assembly deputy speaker’s powers which were withdrawn last week and asked him to hold the polls for the Punjab CM slot on April 16.

The bench headed by Justice Shujaat Ali Khan dismissed appeals filed by PA Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, PML-Q Secretary General Kamil Ali Agha and PTI parliamentary leader in PA Sibtain Khan challenging the single bench’s verdict.

The bench ruled that PA Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari has the powers to preside over the assembly session.