News
April 16 , 2022
LHC Rules Punjab Chief Minister's Election to Take Place on April 16
Lahore: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday ruled that the chief minister's election in the Punjab Assembly should be held on April 16 — just as originally planned — as it delivered its verdict on a petition filed by Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly (PA) Hamza Shahbaz seeking help for holding fair and transparent elections for the vacant position as soon as possible.
The verdict was reserved Monday after LHC Chief Justice Ameer Bhatti heard the case for nearly five hours and observed that since there was a deadlock between the stakeholders over mutually deciding the election date, the decision would thus be taken by the court.
The chief justice Tuesday ordered PA Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari to complete the election process on April 16 (Saturday) and directed all parties to fulfil their responsibilities according to the law and the Constitution, with specific instructions for the assembly staff to fully cooperate in holding the elections.
The short order, a copy of which was available with Dawn.com, directed the PA secretary to complete all repair work at the assembly before 11pm on Friday so it was available for use the next day for the election.
The court also restored Mazari's powers as the deputy speaker.
The judge subsequently disposed of Hamza and Mazari's petitions.
Punjab chief minister's election
The PA has to elect the new leader of the house after Usman Buzdar resigned last month. PML-Q's Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and PML-N's Hamza, who has secured the support of PTI's dissident lawmakers — the Jahangir Khan Tarin and Aleem Khan groups — are to go head to head in the race to become the next chief minister.
To be elected as the chief minister, a candidate will need at least 186 votes in the 371-member house.
In the Punjab Assembly, the PTI has 183 lawmakers, PML-Q 10, PML-N 165, PPP seven, five are independent and one belongs to Rah-i-Haq.
Last week, the opposition submitted a no-confidence motion against Elahi, who is also the PA speaker, further squeezing space for the provincial government to play its cards… - Dawn
Courtesy https://www.dawn.com