Pakistan SC strikes down deputy speaker’s ruling, names Parvez Elahi as Punjab chief minister

Islamabad, July 26

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday declared Punjab Assembly deputy speaker’s decision to reject 10 votes as unconstitutional and named PML-Q leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi as the chief minister of the politically crucial province, in a major setback to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Pervez Elahi, who lost the election held on Friday despite getting a majority vote, challenged the ruling of deputy speaker Dost Mazari who handed victory to Hamza, son of Prime Minister Sharif.

A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justices Ijazul Ahsan and Munib Akhtar, which heard the case, ruled that Pervez Elahi is the chief minister of Punjab province.

During the election, Mazari had decided against counting the votes of 10 PML-Q lawmakers, which were cast in Elahi’s favour, citing a letter written by party President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in which he had instructed them to vote for Hamza instead.

The court also ordered the Punjab Governor to swear in Pervez Elahi as chief minister before 11:30 PM Tuesday night.