LAHORE: Political maneuvering has reached a climax in Punjab as the stage is set for election for the slot of Chief Minister Punjab today between Hamza Shehbaz Sharif of PML-N and Chaudhary Pervez Elahi of the PTI-led coalition government.
It is pertinent to mention here that Chaudhary Pervez Elahi was nominated for the slot of CM by the Prime Minister while the opposition alliance has announced its support for Hamza.
However, a joint press conference was also held by the leader of Pakistan People’s Party Hassan Murtaza and Hamza Shehbaz here on Saturday in which Murtaza announced that his party would support Hamza.
“The PPP will fully support Hamza and the success of Hamza will be our success,” Murtaza said.
It is also pertinent to mention here that Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT) group, a break-away faction of Imran Khan-led PTI, also announced its support for Hamza after successful talks between Tareen and Ishaq Dar in London.
Aun Chaudhry who is also the part of JKT group had claimed that 16 members of his group would vote for Hamza.
On the other hand, PML-Q has also started showing its cards as PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi reached the assembly with three members belonging to the JKT group of the PTI. These three MPAs included Abdul Hai Satti, Rafaqat Gilani and Ameer Muhammad Khan while Tareen group supporting is supporting Hamza Shehbaz.
Meanwhile, Moonis arranged a meeting of the said MPAs with the Pervez Elahi and when Moonis started returning, answering a journalist’s question, he said that he would bring more members to Elahi’s camp.
It is also pertinent to mention here that for the election of the Chief Minister of Punjab, the Governor of Punjab had directed to convene a meeting of the Assembly, after which the process of election of a new Leader of the House was started in the Assembly here on Saturday.
The Speaker Punjab Assembly has fixed April 3 for the election of the CM and adjourned the sitting of the Assembly till 11.30 am Sunday in which the Chief Minister will be elected.
According to the schedule, the candidates themselves or their nominees could submit their nomination papers before 5 pm of April 2, after which scrutiny would take place.
As per an official of Punjab Assembly, since Pervez Elahi himself was the candidate of the slot of CM, he will ask the Deputy Speaker to perform his duties to complete the process. Chaudhary will announce the election schedule himself and hand over the responsibility to the Deputy Speaker.
