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Hamza Shehbaz won the run-off vote for the Punjab chief minister on Friday by just three votes after Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari rejected all votes cast by the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) for going against the instructions of party chief Shujaat Hussain.
The run-off election, held in line with instructions of the Supreme Court, commenced after several hours’ delay and in a peaceful atmosphere, a stark contrast to the scenes of violence seen from the Punjab Assembly when the election for chief minister was conducted in April. Following the polling, the deputy speaker announced that PMLQ-PTI joint candidate, Pervaiz Elahi, had secured 186 votes against 179 for PMLN’s Hamza.
However, he said, 10 votes of the PMLQ had to be rejected because party chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had instructed his lawmakers to vote for Hamza instead of Elahi. Stressing that he had verified the contents of the letter in a phone call with Hussain, Mazari said the PMLQ chief had confirmed it three times. As a consequence, he said, “I disregard all 10 votes polled by PMLQ MPAs as they violated the party president’s instructions, in line with the ruling of the Supreme Court.”
To complaints from the PTI and PMLQ, Mazari cited the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Article 63A in which it had opened the door for votes to not be counted if they went against the instructions of the party. The case was filed by the PTI when it was seeking to oust the 25 dissident members who had voted for Hamza for chief minister; the party had celebrated the controversial verdict after it was announced.
The new vote count, after the rejection of the PMLQ votes, came to 176 for Elahi against 179 for Hamza. As the PMLN and its allies celebrated, former law minister Basharat Raja of the PTI argued that it was the parliamentary head, and not the party head, that determined the party line. Accusing Mazari of “doing everything wrong,” he vowed to challenge the decision in court, which the deputy speaker urged him to do.
Mazari then announced Hamza as the new chief minister and prorogued the 40th session of the Punjab Assembly.
What happened
The PMLQ maintains that the PMLQ parliamentary leader, Sajid Ahmad Khan, had issued a letter a day earlier directing all party lawmakers to vote for Elahi. They have accused Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari of “manipulating” Shujaat in withdrawing support for Elahi, a family member.
According to Geo News anchor Hamid Mir, PMLQ’s Moonis Elahi told him that Shujaat had verified the contents of the letter and said he would not support Pervaiz Elahi as “Imran Khan’s candidate.” Mir went on to quote the younger Elahi as saying that “I lost. Pervaiz Elahi lost. Asif Ali Zardari won.”