Punjab CM election: Tough contest likely between Pervaiz Elahi, Hamza Shehbaz

LAHORE: The preparations have been completed for the organisation of elections for the Punjab chief minister (CM) slot on Saturday (tomorrow) in which a tough contest is expected between Pervaiz Elahi and Hamza Shehbaz, ARY News reported on Friday.

A tough contest is expected between the joint candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q), Pervaiz Elahi and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz’s (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz tomorrow.

The deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly summoned the meeting of the business advisory committee tomorrow.

For the election of the Leader of the House under Article 130, 186 votes of the Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs) will be required for the winning candidate.

READ: ASIF ALI ZARDARI SAYS ‘WANT PERVAIZ ELAHI BACK IN POLITICAL SPHERE’

The matter will be shifted to the run of the election if the candidate fails to get the required number of votes. Through the run of the election, the decision on electing the Punjab CM will be taken on the basis of lawmakers’ opinions in the majority.

Strict security arrangements have been adopted for the Punjab Assembly session tomorrow ahead of the Punjab CM election.

The deputy commissioner Lahore imposed Section 144 outside the Punjab Assembly building in a radius of 500 metres. The additional chief secretary of Punjab’s home department issued a notification regarding the security arrangements.

READ: PML-Q SEEKS PPP SUPPORT FOR PUNJAB CM ELECTION

Yesterday, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had chaired the parliamentary party meeting of the coalition parties ahead of the Punjab chief minister (CM) election.

Pervaiz Elahi had said that the nation is backing Imran Khan and the successful rallies made the political rivals panic. He said that they have always worked for the public welfare which will be prioritised in future as well.

The Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) top leader had said that they will prove their majority in the Punjab Assembly on April 16 on the united front.

In another development yesterday, it was learnt that a group of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPAs had contacted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Punjab leadership.

PML-N MPAs had contacted PTI leadership and demanded assurance of a party ticket in the next election for supporting Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. The PTI Punjab leadership had informed the party’s central leadership about the contact by the PML-N lawmakers and their demands.

Sources privy to the development further said that confirmation of the tickets to the PML-N lawmakers in the upcoming general elections will be given after the approval from the party’s central command.