Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allies including Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) are looking for court decisions regarding elections against Hamza Shehbaz who is the governor of Punjab currently. PML-Q is contesting against recent government in order to come to power again in the court. On the other hand, PTI want to dissolute all provincial assemblies and National assemblies and to get date for new elections in Pakistan.
On the other side, the primary ruling party in Punjab and the Centre, the PML-N, is walking a tightrope as it will soon be confronted with the monumental challenge of having the next fiscal budget enacted by the Punjab Assembly. This task will soon put the PML-N in an extremely difficult position. A senior member of the PML-Q asserted, “The PML-N government will be overthrown if it is unable to get the budget enacted.” Following the removal of PTI defectors from their seats in the provincial assembly, the PML-N now has the backing of 172 members of the provincial assembly (MPAs), but it needs 174 votes to pass the money bill.
Supreme Court Verdict
After the verdict of the Supreme Court on the presidential reference on defection, no lawmaker is now allowed to deviate from party line or abstain from voting in the passing of money bill. As a result of this, the PML-Q appears confident that even a vote by Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari would not be able to assist the PML-N in getting the budget passed, and this would also be the case in the run-off election for the position of chief minister.
Moonis Elahi, a former federal minister and the current leader of the PML-Q, made the following statement to Dawn on Monday: “In case of even one decision in favour of the PTI and PML-Q, the PML-N government will fall flat, and Hamza Shehbaz will not be able to take a fresh vote of confidence.” This comes as the PML-Q pins its hopes on the courts in petitions against Hamza’s election and his oath He insisted that there would be no other choice for the PML-N but to participate in a runoff election.
Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court
The chief justice of the Lahore High Court is currently hearing a petition against the election of the chief minister that was filed by the PTI and the PML-Q. Beginning on Tuesday, a five-member bench will hold day-to-day hearings on a petition that challenges Hamza’s oath of office as the chief minister (today).
Moonis was also confident that the PML-N would not be able to oust his father, PA Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, as the move required 186 votes, and that could only be possible if the ruling party clinched the maximum seats in the by-elections on 20 of the 25 seats vacated by PTI dissidents. Moonis believed that the PML-N would not be able to oust his father because the move required 186 votes,
Parvez Elahi is at ease to continue postponing the session of the parliament till the judgements made by the Lahore High Court because he has guaranteed his position as the speaker – at least for the time being. The meeting is currently planned to take place on June 6th.
According to sources within the party, the PTI has only in the past few days come to the conclusion that it will run candidates in the by-elections that will take place on July 17 for the 20 seats that were abandoned by dissidents within the party. The leadership of the PTI had initially stated that they would not participate in the elections because they did not believe in the assemblies. However, after it was suggested that the PTI’s ally, the PML-Q, should be asked to compete in the elections, they changed their minds and decided to participate. The PTI is currently accepting applications from qualified individuals up until June 1st.
Qureshi, Elahi chart future course
In the meantime, PTI vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi met with PA Speaker Elahi at the latter’s residence in Lahore. The two men talked about the current political climate as well as the court cases, and they came to the conclusion that both allies should continue cooperating against the PML-N government.
After the meeting, Mr. Elahi gave a statement to the media in which he stated that the PTI should promptly declare its candidates for the by-elections and added that his party would provide complete support to Imran Khan in his efforts to bring the dissidents to justice.
He went on to make fun of the fact that Hamza Shehbaz’s purported election and oath of office as chief minister were not legitimate according to the constitution or the law. He made the declaration that “Hamza is only ruling with the help of the police and chief secretary.”
During the course of the long march, the speaker claimed that Hamza had mistreated women. In addition to this, he emphasised that the issue of police officers being present on the assembly floor on April 16 during the election of the chief minister was not an unimportant one. Mr. Elahi emphasised that “Policemen will be called in accordance with the Assembly Act and sacked with a four-month incarceration,” and he emphasised the importance of this point.
He went on to say that the secretaries of the Commonwealth and the United Nations had both criticised the police brutality that occurred during the assembly and sought a report from the secretary of the assembly.
According to Qureshi, who served as foreign minister before, new elections are the only way to pull the country out of its current issues, which are being exacerbated by the current leadership. According to his suggestion, all institutions ought to be thinking about Pakistan’s interests right now.
