Islamabad: A constitutional petition was filed by Punjab’s chief minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz Sharif through his lawyers on Tuesday challenging Governor Omer Sarfraz Cheem’s refusal to administer him the oath of office.
Hamza’s counsel filed the petition after the governor, an Imran Khan loyalist, had raised questions over the validity of Hamza’s election and sought a report from the assembly’s secretary and advice from Advocate General of Punjab in that regard.
Hamza Shehbaz was elected by 197 Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs), a majority vote in the 371-member Punjab Assembly. The election was marred by clashes between his rival candidate Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s supporters and police inside the assembly hall.
Elahi had reportedly called in his men in plain clothes to disrupt the electoral process. Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammed Mazari, in order to ensure smooth, fair election of chief minister, had allowed the police to enter the assembly and restore order.
In the petition, Hamza’s counsel submitted that his client had been elected as the Punjab chief minister on April 16 during a provincial assembly session held under the LHC’s direction and that he had secured 197 votes out of 371.
Hamza won a simple majority in the contest after which Mazari provided copies of the result to Cheema to fulfil the requirements of Rule 21 of the Rules of Procedure, said the petition.
The petitioner maintained that the governor was reluctant to administer the oath to Hamza Shehbaz.
He contended that it was a constitutional obligation that the chief minister-elect be administered the oath on the day of the election.
Now, Hamza Shehbaz’ legal team is likely to file the petition again on Wednesday, April 20.
PML-Q weighing options to counter move
On the other hand, Elahi has also started consultations with constitutional experts to challenge the “unconstitutional election of the chief minister.”
The PML(Q)-PTI coalition is of the view that Hamza is not a constitutionally elected chief minister as his opponent, Chaudhry Parvaizz Elahi, and his supporting lawmakers, were kept out of the voting process through a ‘planned move’.
