LAHORE: Hamza Shehbaz Sharif has taken oath as Punjab Chief Minister, a day after a dramatic victory against Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.

Governor Punjab Baligh-ur-Rehman administered the oath to him at a ceremony at the Governor House in Lahore. The oath-taking ceremony was attended by PML-N leaders and other government officials.

A day earlier, Hamza Shahbaz retained the post of the Punjab chief minister as Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari, citing Article 63A of the Constitution, rejected 10 votes cast by PML-Q members. As a result, Hamza received 179 votes, while Pervaiz Elahi, who was backed by the PTI, managed to bag 176 votes.

Earlier, Punjab Assembly session to elect Chief Minister Punjab under the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s directives started 2 hours 50 minutes behind its scheduled time of 4PM chaired by the Deputy Speaker.

The Speaker rejected the PML-Q MPAs votes in the wake of a letter from party President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain who had instructed the party MPAs not to vote for Pervaiz Elahi.

Referring to the apex court’s verdict under Article 63 A of the constitution, the Chair pointed out that a member who voted against the will of the party leader stood disqualified and these votes could not be counted.

Speaking on a point of order, the opposition member Raja Basharat said the Chair Dost Muhammad Mazari could not pass the ruling as the party president was not entitled to give such instructions but the parliamentary party.

He added the PML-Q Parliamentary Party Leader in the Punjab Assembly Sajid Khan had endorsed Parvez Elahi’s candidature the other day.

However, Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari declared Hamza Shehbaz Sharif successful after securing 179 votes against 176 valid votes of the PTI MPAs. On completion of day’s agenda, the session was prorogued for an indefinite period.

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