LAHORE
Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Tuesday reconvened the 40th session of the Punjab Assembly in light of the decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan regarding the Punjab Chief Minister election.
In this regard, speaker Pervaiz Elahi has signed the order and issued a notification to convene the Punjab Chief Minister Election session which will be held on July 22. According to the notification, the meeting will be chaired by Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Mazari.
The Speaker Punjab Assembly further said that will take every step to make a free and fair atmosphere during the election. Earlier, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) has challenged the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision pertaining to the powers of the deputy speaker of Punjab Assembly in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The petition said that the decision of the LHC tantamount to interfering in the parliament’s affairs, adding that according to the Constitution there can be no interference in parliamentary work. PML-Q has also requested the top court to hear their petition at the earliest.
In the first week of April, the Punjab Assembly Secretariat took away Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari’s powers after what it termed a fake order issued with the signature of Mazari’s summonning the assembly session on April 6 at 7:30 pm.
Later on Mazari approached the LHC against it and the court restored his powers. Meanwhile, Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Tuesday said it is meaningless to sit anywhere except in the assembly, maintaining that it is the speaker’s responsibility to make sure free and fair elections are conducted.
“The SC has declared that elections cannot be conducted anywhere else except the assembly,” he said while talking to the media. “We have to work towards maintaining the sanctity of the law and Constitution that the incumbent government is hell bent on destroying.”
Elahi went on to say that it is the speaker’s responsibility to treat all the assembly members equally and move forward together. Responding to a question, he said “our next move will come in light of the apex court’s decision.”
