Pakistan’s Punjab province is scheduled to get a new chief minister on Friday with the assembly session where lawmakers will cast their vote likely to convene at 4pm.
Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party had won by-elections in Punjab, the country’s most populous province, on July 18. The PTI had won 15 seats out of 20 that were up for grabs in the 371-member provincial assembly. That brought the overall number of seats held by Khan’s party and their allies in the chamber in Punjab to 188, two seats more than the simple majority of 186 needed to rule the province.
Khan’s win was a blow to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition, though it poses no threat to the government in Islamabad. Pervaiz Elahi is the joint nomine of PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML_Q), while the ruling coalition is making all efforts to keep the incumbent chief minister Hamza Shehbaz in Punjab, the heartland of Pakistani politics.
Friday’s crucial session will be chaired by Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari. During the sessions, a runoff election will be held for the post of CM between Hamza Shehbaz and Pervaiz Elahi.
PTI allies and PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and his son Moonis Elahi have refused to meet Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. Zardari reportedly made a final attempt to persuade PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to win his party’s support for Hamza Shahbaz.
Members of Sharif’s PML-N and coalition partners are reportedly camped in a local hotel, whereas PTI and PML-Q have also prepared a strategy.
Pakistan’s election commission had ordered the holding of by-elections last month, after disqualifying 20 members of Khan’s party from constituencies in Punjab. Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League won four seats as did one independent candidate.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News, watch Top Videos and Live TV here.
Comments
0 comment