The PML-N moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) for the immediate election of the Punjab chief minister. PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz filed a constitutional plea through his counsel Azam Nazeer Tarar.
According to the details, the petition appeals to the court to look into the matter of elections for the position of Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab as it has been vacant since April 1.
“The post remains vacant from April 01 and under article 130 of the constitution, it should not remain vacant for so long,” the plea from Hamza Shehbaz said. As per sources, the other parties named in the petition are the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly and the Deputy Speaker.
Furthermore, the PML-N leader requested in the petition to declare as illegal the step to seal the Punjab Assembly gates.
Read more: PM Khan agrees to make Pervaiz Elahi the next Punjab CM?
Earlier, the gates of the Punjab Assembly were sealed amid confusion over the scheduling of a pivotal session for the election of the new CM. To clarify, for the election of the Punjab Chief Minister, the Punjab Assembly adjourned the session until April 6.
If it takes 30seconds to pull off a coup, it should take 30secs to undo a coup. Justice delayed is Justice denied. After last weeks constitutional break down in Islamabad. Today Punjab dep speaker was locked out of assembly on day of voting for CM. Barbered wire around ppls house
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) April 6, 2022
It then postponed it to April 16th shortly after. Wednesday, the PA Deputy Speaker called a provincial assembly session to elect a new chief minister of the province at 7:30 pm. However, PTI submitted a no-confidence motion against the Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, barring him from holding the session.
Punjab Chief Minister: The next uphill battle?
Interestingly, Hamza Shehbaz earlier accused the ruling alliance of hatching a conspiracy to suspend PML-N members to win the CM election. He is also the PML-N’s candidate for the position of Punjab Chief Minister. Meanwhile, PTI nominated PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
“We have more than 200 numbers,” Hamza Shehbaz said. He further added if Pervaiz Elahi had got the numbers, he would not have postponed the meeting. Important to note, the Opposition also submitted a no-confidence motion against PA speaker Pervaiz Elahi.
To clarify, currently, all eyes are on electing the next Chief Minister of Punjab. Both candidates need at least 186 votes in the House of 371 to win the poll for the slot of CM Punjab.
The Opposition is optimistic that it will win as it claims to have more than 188 MPAs. The Opposition MPAs include PML-N, PPP, and the rest of the PTI rebel groups.
Read more: PML-N not ready to give Punjab CM seat to PML-Q?