After dramatic day
\n Lahore
\nAfter a dramatic day, PML-N\u2019s candidate Hamza Shahbaz Friday retained the post of the Punjab chief minister against Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi through a three-vote victory.
\nFollowing the counting of votes, Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari, citing Article 63A of the Constitution, rejected 10 votes cast by PML-Q members. As a result, Hamza received 179 votes, while Elahi managed to bag 176 votes.
\nAs Mazari announced the result, PTI leader Raja Basharat had an argument with the deputy speaker and said that since Chaudhry Sajid was the parliamentary leader of PML-Q, Article 63(A) did not apply to Elahi\u2019s case.
\n\u201cAs per Sajid\u2019s instruction, all PML-Q members were to vote for Elahi,\u201d he said, adding that Shujaat\u2019s letter held \u201cno value\u201d.
\n\u201cYou are depriving the candidate of his right,\u201d Basharat accused the speaker.
\nAs the argument between the two kept escalating, with PTI members refusing to accept the decision, Mazari adjourned the assembly\u2019s session, telling PTI and PML-Q members to \u201capproach the court\u201d regarding their grievances.
\nSC order on Article 63(A): Who can give directions to MPs?
\nThe Supreme Court of Pakistan, back in May, had ruled the votes of dissident members of the Parliament (MPs), cast against their parliamentary party\u2019s directives, cannot be counted.
\nThe apex court, issuing its verdict on the presidential reference seeking the interpretation of Article 63(A) of the Constitution related to defecting lawmakers of the PTI, said that the law cannot be interpreted in isolation.
\nDuring today\u2019s ruling, Article 63(A) was applied after PML-Q President, Chaudhry Shujaat, wrote a letter to the deputy speaker, saying that he had directed the party not to vote in any party\u2019s favour.
\nPTI to challenge Mazari\u2019s decision in court
\nFollowing Mazari\u2019s decision to disregard the 10 votes of PML-Q members \u2014 a move that allowed Hamza to retain his post as the chief minister of Punjab \u2014 PTI said that it would approach the country\u2019s top court to challenge the decision.
\nBilawal bucks up Zardari
\nFollowing Hamza\u2019s victory, Foreign Minister Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari took to his Twitter account and praised his father, saying, \u201cEk Zardari sab pe bhaari.\u201d
\nChaudhry Shujaat says he will not back Imran Khan\u2019s candidate: Moonis
\nIn a major development ahead of the voting, PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi said that his uncle, senior party leader Chaudhry Shujaat, had refused to back Imran Khan\u2019s candidate Elahi.
\nHe said that he had gone to visit Shujaat but he refused to issue a video recording in this regard. \u201cI have lost and Imran Khan has lost as well but Zardari has won,\u201d Moonis quoted his uncle as saying.
\nIn response, former interior minister Sheikh Rasheed said that Elahi was the parliamentary leader of PML-Q.
\n\u201cChaudhry Shujaat had said twice or thrice before that he would back Elahi, but Asif Zardari has, once again, exposed himself.\u201d
\nLater, while speaking to senior journalist Ansar Abbasi, Moonis said that Shujaat had written a letter to the deputy speaker, stating that no one from the party will be casting their votes.
\n\u201cAsif Zardari had assured Shujaat that he would make Elahi the chief minister of Punjab,\u201d Moonis said. \u201cZardari had also told him that Elahi would be the candidate for PML-N and allies.\u201d
\nMoonis added that his party will only vote for Imran Khan\u2019s candidate, adding that no one from his party will be casting a vote in favour of PML-N or its allies to become the next chief minister.
\nHe also took to his Twitter account and shared with the masses that a day ago, PML parliamentary party, chaired by the parliamentary party leader in the provincial assembly Sajid Bhatti, held its meeting and it was decided unanimously that Elahi would be the candidate for the CM\u2019s slot.
\nNumber game
\nThe Opposition alliance had 188 members in the house of 371 while the PML-N coalition had 179 MPs when the voting ended.
\nThe only option left for the PML-N was to cause a breach in the PTI-PML(Q) parliamentary strength. And with Shujaat\u2019s last-minute move, 10 votes of PML-Q parliamentarians were rejected, which gave the PML-N a breather.
\nIn the second round of the CM\u2019s election, the lead of three votes marked the victory of Hamza as he bagged 179 votes, while after the rejection of PML-Q\u2019s votes, Elahi received 176 votes.
\nThe PTI clean sweeping of the July 17 by-election had changed the whole scenario for the nascent government of Hamza after the party won 15 seats. The PTI was confident it would, once again, take over the rule of Punjab but today\u2019s election proved otherwise.
\nDeputy speaker rejects PML-N\u2019s objection toward Zain Qureshi, Shabbir Gujjar
\nAt the beginning of the session, PML-N objected to the presence of PTI candidates Zain Qureshi and Shabbir Gujjar in the assembly and said that since Zain had not resigned from the membership of the National Assembly, he was not eligible to vote in the provincial assembly. Meanwhile, the party added that since there was a case pending against Gujjar with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), he cannot cast his vote either.
\nHowever, PTI leader Raja Basharat, in Gujjar\u2019s defence, said that the ECP had sent a notification in this regard and according to that, Gujjar is eligible to cast his vote.
\nFollowing that, Mazari rejected PML-N\u2019s objections and said that both PTI candidates could cast their votes.
\nPTI to approach SC over delay in voting process
\nAs the voting for the CM\u2019s election did not begin at the designated time of 4pm, the PTI said it has decided to approach the Supreme Court to lodge a complaint against the deputy speaker.
\nTaking to Twitter, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said that the deputy speaker should be trialled for \u201ccontempt of court\u201d for delaying the voting despite the top court\u2019s orders.
\nChanges in Punjab will not affect Centre: PML-N
\nMinister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique, in a pre-poll press briefing in Lahore, said that it was not necessary that a change in Punjab will have an effect on the federal government as well.
\nThe federal minister said that the situation was not what it seemed like as he stressed that the PML-N will \u201cremain in Punjab and hold its ground.\u201d
\nIn a scathing attack on PTI Chairman Imran Khan, the PML-N leader said that the former prime minister does not wish to see stability in Pakistan and \u201cwishes to turn it into Sri Lanka\u201d.
\nAsad Umar hints at not dissolving assembly
\nTalking to journalists shortly before the start of the session, PTI Secretary-General Asad Umar hinted at not dissolving the Punjab Assembly after Elahi gets elected as the chief minister.
\n\u201cThe Punjab Assembly will continue till the current system is intact,\u201d he told journalists.
\nThe PTI leader said that PPP Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari\u2019s politics of \u201cbuying\u201d politicians have ceased to exist as the voters have rejected the party, referring to the PTI\u2019s victory in the by-election.
\nUmar added that the PTI has the numbers it needs and Elahi will win the election.
\nGandapur leads 186 MPAs to assembly
\nPTI leader and former minister for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan affairs Ali Amin Gandapur was seen leading his party\u2019s MPAs in buses to the Punjab Assembly.
\nGandapur, known for his hardline attitude, counted the MPAs to ensure that the party has the right number of lawmakers and their and PML-Q\u2019s joint candidate wins the CM election today.
\nThe PTI said that a total of 186 \u2014 the required simple majority of lawmakers \u2014 had reached the Punjab Assembly and they were asked to remain in the assembly\u2019s committee room.
\nThe lawmakers were taken to the assembly in four separate buses \u2014 and were not allowed to arrive at the assembly on their own as the party wanted to ensure that none of their lawmakers went missing for any reason.
\nThe MPAs also offered Friday prayers in the committee room.
\nIndependent candidate announces support for Hamza
\nSyed Muhammad Rafiuddin Bukhari, an independent candidate who clinched PP-228 Lodhran V in the by-election and secured 45,020 votes, announced support for Hamza.
\n\u201cAlthough I am not a member of a party, I will support Hamza Shahbaz sahab,\u201d Bukhari said in a video shared by the PML-N.
\nLHC prohibits police from entering assembly
\nOn the petition of the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Sibtain Khan and PTI leader Zainab Umar, the Lahore High Court (LHC) prohibited Punjab Police from entering the assembly premises.
\nLHC\u2019s Justice Muzammil Akhtar Shabbir said that the police can enter the assembly premises if the law and order situation deteriorates.
\nSecurity sought for Punjab Assembly
\nIn a letter written to the chief secretary and inspector-general on the eve of the CM election, Mazari requested that security officials be deployed within the boundaries and inside the premises of the Assembly hall to ward off any untoward incident.
\nFollowing the requisition, the Punjab police devised a security plan. According to it, 1,400 security personnel will be deployed inside and outside the Punjab Assembly.
\nThe police said that security officials are being deployed to ensure the proceedings of the session are held peacefully and that the protection of all members of Parliament is also a major concern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After dramatic day Lahore After a dramatic day, PML-N\u2019s candidate Hamza Shahbaz Friday retained the post of the Punjab chief minister against Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi through a three-vote victory. Following the counting of votes, Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari, citing Article 63A of the Constitution, rejected 10 votes cast by PML-Q […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[369,362,3464],"class_list":{"0":"post-272848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-hamza-shahbaz","9":"tag-pmln","10":"tag-punjab-cm"},"yoast_head":"\n