ISLAMABAD — As political chaos and uncertainty have gripped the country once again after Friday’s contentious election for Punjab chief minister’s office, all eyes are on the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The Supreme Court (SC) is going to resume hearing on Chaudhry Parvez Elahi’s plea against Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari’s ruling in the Punjab chief minister’s election case on Monday (July 25).
Presiding over the election for Punjab chief minister’s office on Friday (July 22), Mazari rejected 10 votes cast in favour of Parvez and declared Hamza Shahbaz the winner.
In total, Parvez received 186 votes and Hamza 176. Announcing the election result, Mazari rejected 10 votes cast by PML-Q lawmakers in favour of Parvez on the basis of a letter which he said he received from PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujat Hussain with directions to his party lawmakers to cast vote in favour of Hamza.
Taking up Parvez’s petition against Mazari’s ruling on Saturday, the Supreme Court said apparently it was in violation of the court order issued earlier in this case. However, the court allowed Hamza to work as a “trustee CM” until Monday (July 25), when the court will take up the case again.
PTI MPA Batool Janjua shares her wedding pictures
According to legal experts, Mazari’s ruling was flawed and he apparently did so to appease the PML-N. However, the Supreme Court will decide tomorrow who will rule Punjab: Parvez or Hamza.
Parvez is backed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of ousted prime minister Imran Khan and Hamza is backed by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as well as the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a coalition of 11 political parties currently ruling Pakistan. Fazlur Rehman is the current head of the PDM.
Normalcy hasn’t returned to Pakistan since removal of prime minister Imran Khan’s government on April 10 this year allegedly under a foreign conspiracy.