According to a notification released on Sunday, former chief minister of Punjab and PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz has been elected the opposition leader in the provincial assembly.
On April 30, 2022, Hamza was de-notified as the head of the opposition and became chief minister of Punjab.
However, when Pervez Elahi was chosen as chief minister, the PML-N-led government in Punjab was toppled because the Supreme Court had considered Dost Muhammad Mazari’s decision to overturn the election of the chief minister “illegal.” Mazari was the former deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly.
Elahi, who lost to Hamza in the Punjab CM election on July 22 when Mazari, the former deputy speaker, rejected 10 PML-Q votes, has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court had asserted in an 11-page short order: “We find that the Deputy Speaker, Provincial Assembly of Punjab, Lahore (Respondent No. 1)’s understanding and implementation of the said short decision as well as the provisions of Article 63A(1)(b) of the Constitution was patently incorrect and erroneous and cannot be sustained.”
Elahi was thus declared to be the legitimately elected chief minister of Punjab by the order, which determined that he had received 186 votes to Hamza’s 179.
