\u2018Judicial coup\u2019
\n Islamabad
\nThe coalition government Tuesday strongly responded to the Supreme Court\u2019s verdict to place Pervez Elahi as Punjab\u2019s chief minister, removing Hamza Shahbaz from the province\u2019s top office.
\nThe Supreme Court declared Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari\u2019s ruling in the Punjab Chief Minister\u2019s election \u201cillegal\u201d and ruled that PTI\u2019s candidate Pervez Elahi will be the new CM of the province.
\nThe three-member bench \u2014 comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Muneeb Akhtar \u2014 also ordered Punjab Governor Baligh ur Rehman to administer the oath to Elahi at 11:30pm, adding that if he refuses to perform his duties, President Arif Alvi will administer the oath.
\n\u201cJudicial coup,\u201d PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz said in a tweet, who had hours before the verdict asked the government to take a firm stand on the matter.
\nPML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif took to his Twitter to \u201csalute the three judges\u201d, who heard the case.
\n\u201c[Order] has made a mockery of Pakistan,\u201d he wrote.
\nFormer chief minister Punjab and PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz expressed sorrow over the SC\u2019s verdict, saying that the government elected by people\u2019s votes was sent home through a \u201ccontroversial decision\u201d.
\n\u201cHas the status of the assembly become a rubber stamp?\u201d he questioned, adding that over the last four months, the biggest province of the country has become a \u201claughing stock\u201d.
\nIn a press conference, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said it was \u201cclear\u201d a day earlier that this decision will be announced today.
\n\u201cThis decision is tantamount to judicial coup […] and this will lead to further anarchy and divide the nation. More than half of the people of Pakistan do not accept this,\u201d Aurangzeb said.
\nThe information minister said that the majority of political parties demanded a full court to hear the case as this bench \u201cis considered a biased bench\u201d.
\nAurangzeb added that the petition filed for a full court to hear the case had already shown that it had \u201cno confidence in the current bench\u201d and today\u2019s decision shows that the decision to file the plea was right.
\nIn his tweet, Labour Minister Sindh and PPP leader Saeed Ghani said he was amazed that the top court instructed either the governor or the president to administer the oath to Elahi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018Judicial coup\u2019 Islamabad The coalition government Tuesday strongly responded to the Supreme Court\u2019s verdict to place Pervez Elahi as Punjab\u2019s chief minister, removing Hamza Shahbaz from the province\u2019s top office. The Supreme Court declared Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari\u2019s ruling in the Punjab Chief Minister\u2019s election \u201cillegal\u201d and ruled that PTI\u2019s candidate Pervez Elahi will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9856,9855,1988],"class_list":{"0":"post-273734","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-backlash","9":"tag-coalition-partners","10":"tag-strong"},"yoast_head":"\n