LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly (PA) session, which was scheduled to begin at 11:30am on Saturday to elect the new chief minister, has been delayed after PTI lawmakers manhandled Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari when he arrived to chair the session.
When Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari entered the assembly, he was attacked by members of the treasury benches, who threw lotas at him and tried to circle him. Mazari was immediately shifted to his chamber by assembly guards.
Slogans were chanted by both the parties, while lawmakers from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) PTI threw lotas at the opposition benches. The PTI lawmakers caused a ruckus inside the assembly as they lashed out at dissident PTI MPAs who have decided to support the Opposition.
A tough contest is expected for the top slot between the ruling coalition (PMLQ and PTI) candidate Parvez Elahi and PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz, who is the joint opposition’s candidate. Both candidates, along with their supporters, have arrived at the PA.
Elahi is currently the speaker of the house but since he is one of the candidates for chief minister, he cannot preside the session.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made in and around the assembly to prevent any untoward incident before and after the chief minister’s election. Paramilitary Rangers have also been called in to support police.
The April 16 session is being held in line with the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Wednesday order, wherein it rejected Hamza’s plea to hold the early elections and restored the powers of the deputy speaker. The deputy speaker — whose powers were withdrawn last week — was asked by the court to hold the election on April 16.
The CM’s office has been vacant for nearly two weeks since ex-governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar — who was removed from his position last week — accepted Usman Buzdar’s resignation on April 1.
The joint opposition has claimed to have the support of 200 members and is confident of winning the CM election. In the house of 371, Hamza Shahbaz needs the support of 186 members to become the chief minister.
‘Free and fair election’
Ahead of the proceedings, Mazari told journalists that he would ensure “fair and transparent” elections were held today. “I have given media persons access to the assembly so that they can see how the proceedings are held,” he said.
The deputy speaker stated there might be efforts to further delay the voting but “remember I won’t take pressure but give it”. In today’s session, he revealed, everyone would be allowed to vote including the defector MPAs.
“According to Article 63-A, defectors will be allowed to vote. After the session, the party chief will see what needs to be done with them,” the deputy speaker added.
‘Intentions not clear’
In a conversation with journalists after reaching the assembly, Elahi said despite being the speaker, he was not the custodian of the house today as he is a contender for the chief minister’s slot.
“Time will prove whether the deputy speaker was honest or not […] we will try to hold a transparent election today,” Elahi said, adding he knows from where Dost Mohammad Mazari is taking instructions and will share details at the right time.
He said that some people did not have clear intentions and claimed to have the numbers for winning the election.
The numbers game
To be elected as chief minister, a candidate would need at least 186 votes in the 371-member house. In the Punjab Assembly, the PTI has 183 lawmakers, PML-Q 10, PML-N 165, PPP seven, five are independent and one belongs to Rah-i-Haq.
The decisive factor in the election is expected to be the support of dissident PTI lawmakers that are part of the Jahangir Tarin and Aleem Khan groups, which have the support of around 24 lawmakers.
Representatives of both groups have already announced they are backing opposition candidate Hamza Shehbaz for the chief minister’s post.
