Islamabad: Chaudhry Pervez Elahi took oath as chief minister of Punjab, the king-maker province, in the early hours of July 27 morning hours after Pakistan’s top court ruled him the duly elected chief minister of Punjab.
President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath to Elahi at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad after the federal government-backed Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman refused to carry out the job, despite Supreme Court’s direction.
A three-member court bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Tuesday ruled that Elahi had been wrongfully denied victory last week and overturned the Punjab assembly deputy speaker’s decision of dismissing the votes in Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Elahi’s favour on the basis of a letter by the party president and declaring victory to the candidate of the ruling coalition candidate Hamza Shehbaz.
The court said that the deputy speaker’s understanding and implementation of the court’s judgment and provisions of Article 63A(1)(b) was “patently incorrect and erroneous and cannot be sustained” and that the “governance of Punjab in accordance with the Constitution was subverted whereby the fundamental rights of the people have been seriously infringed”.
The court declared the speaker’s ruling “void, without lawful authority and of no legal effect”.
The court had also ordered the Punjab chief secretary to immediately issue the notification declaring Elahi as the duly elected CM and said that all advisers and assistants appointed under the orders or advice of Hamza would immediately cease to hold office.
PML-N boycotts decision, PTI celebrates
The verdict delivered a big blow to the coalition government, mainly led by PML-N and PPP, which at the end of the conclusion of the hearing of the case decided to boycott it requesting the formation of a full court bench on petitions related to the Punjab chief minister’s re-election. Tuesday’s Supreme decision was described as a “significant win” for Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party whose supporters took to the streets in several cities, including Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, late at night to celebrate the court’s decision.
Why Elahi was not declared CM despite winning majority?
Elahi, backed by ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, had secured 186 votes against Hamza Shahbaz, the candidate of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, but was sidelined due to the decision of the Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammed Mazari who rejected 10 votes of PML-Q lawmakers on the grounds that MPAs violated the party president’s instructions based on a letter sent by PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat.
The deputy speaker’s ruling triggered a heated debate and many lawyers contended that tend decision was “illegal” as the party head cannot issue directions under Article 63-A.
The new chief minister was selected after Khan’s party PTI won majority votes in recent by-elections. PTI won 15 out of 20 seats while the ruling PML-N party could only win four seats.
