Pakistan President Alvi administers oath to new Punjab CM Parvez Elahi amid high political drama
Islamabad, July 27
Chaudhry Parvez Elahi took oath as the Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province on Wednesday, hours after the Supreme Court struck down the deputy speaker’s ruling and named the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader as the new executive head of the politically crucial province.
The apex court’s verdict delivered a big blow to the Sharif-led coalition government as it saw Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Hamza Shehbaz, son of the prime minister, lose his status of the “trustee” chief minister.
The Supreme Court on late Tuesday declared Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari’s controversial decision to reject 10 votes in the Punjab chief minister’s election as “illegal” and ruled that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed candidate Elahi will be the new chief minister of Punjab.
The three-member bench — comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Muneeb Akhtar — had ordered Punjab Governor Baligh Ur Rehman to administer the oath to Elahi. However, Rehman refused to perform his duties.
Following Governor Rehman’s refusal, Elahi left for Islamabad late on Tuesday night to take oath from President of Pakistan Arif Alvi as per the Supreme Court’s order.
Alvi administered the oath to Elahi at the Aiwan-e-Sadar early on Wednesday morning. President Alvi had sent a special aircraft to bring Elahi to Islamabad for the oath-taking ceremony, Geo News reported.
Elahi, who lost the election held on Friday despite getting a majority vote, challenged the ruling of Deputy Speaker Mazari who handed victory to Hamza. Elahi was supported by ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan’s PTI party.
Elahi secured 186 votes against 179 votes of PML-N candidate Hamza but lost after Deputy Speaker Mazari rejected 10 votes of his PML-Q lawmakers.
Mazari refused to count the vote after PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain through a letter directed his party lawmakers to vote for Hamza, son of Prime Minister Sharif and PML-N president.
The Supreme Court, in an 11-page short order, said: “We find that the understanding and implementation of the said short judgment as well as the provisions of Article 63-A(1)(b) of the Constitution by the Deputy Speaker, Provincial Assembly of Punjab, Lahore, was patently incorrect and erroneous and cannot be sustained.”
It added that the act also “subverted” the governance of Punjab.
As a result, the ruling by the Deputy Speaker of Punjab Assembly is set aside and declared to be void, without lawful authority and of no legal effect, the apex court stated.
In case the governor does not administer an oath to Elahi, President Alvi can do so instead, the court ruled in its short order. The court also declared all the appointments made by Hamza “illegal” and told the members of his cabinet to vacate their offices.
The Punjab province has been in turmoil since April which took a new turn on Friday when the PTI supported candidate, Elahi, was not declared a winner.
Welcoming the apex court’s ruling, PTI chief Khan said, “I appreciate our SC judges for standing firm and upholding the Constitution and law, against all manner of threats and abuse.”
“I want to thank the people of Punjab for coming out in unprecedented numbers in by election against rigging,” the ousted prime minister tweeted.
Punjab is Pakistan’s second-largest province and any party ruling the key province controls the politics of the country. For the PML-N, losing Punjab means losing the Centre. Political pundits believe that the ruling coalition is now vulnerable.
Tuesday’s outcome provides a “massive opportunity” to the PTI chairman to build further pressure on the rulers to call for fresh elections and also corner the PML-N in Punjab which is considered a stronghold of Sharifs.
