LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Hamza Shahbaz, Opposition Leader in the Punjab has approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) today to seek the judiciary’s help to hold the election for the chief minister in the province.
The CM’s office has been vacant for more than a week since ex-governor Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar — who had been terminated last week — accepted Usman Buzdar’s resignation on April 1.
On Thursday, the doors of the Punjab Assembly were locked and the MPAs were not allowed to enter the Punjab Assembly building. Also, the ruling party and opposition filed no-confidence move against Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Punjab Assembly.
Filing an appeal in court today, Hamza Shahbaz made Punjab Assembly Speaker Parvez Elahi, Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari, and Inspector-General of Police Punjab Rao Sardar Ali Khan parties in this case.
In the petition, Hamza Shahbaz said the post of chief minister remains vacant despite the passage of several days and urged the need to immediately elect someone to the position.
“Assembly secretary and administrative officers are obeying the illegal orders of Parvez Elahi and the Punjab Assembly’s session is being delayed without any reason,” the petitioner said.
In the petition, Hamza said that under Article 130, the an election for the CM cannot be delayed. He said the parties named in the case are not performing their duties in line with the law.
“Therefore, the court should issue an order at the earliest and make the election possible,” he added.
The speaker — a candidate for the CM’s post — had on April 6 barred members of the Punjab Assembly and media personnel from entering the building after the deputy speaker had summoned a session for the election of the CM.
The security of the provincial legislature had also put up barbed wires at the main gate of the Assembly.
The move was made after PTI submitted a no-confidence motion against Dost Mohammad Mazari — despite him being a PTI loyalist — as he summoned the session without consulting the party.
Moreover, after submitting a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, the joint Opposition filed a no-trust motion against Punjab Assembly’s speaker Elahi on Thursday.
Hamza elected ‘CM Punjab’
Two days back, the Opposition’s symbolic Punjab Assembly session elected PML-N leader Hamza the CM after the government sealed off the provincial assembly.
Members from the PML-N, PPP, and PTI’s Jahangir Khan Tareen and Abdul Aleem Khan groups attended the session, with PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz also present.
PML-N leader and MPA Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan had claimed that more than 200 MPAs were present at the hotel for the session.
The Tareen and Aleem groups have parted ways with the PTI and Prime Minister Imran Khan and decided to support the Opposition’s candidate for the CM’s post.
