— Maryam Nawaz elected Punjab’s first female CM amid SIC boycott
— Murad also makes history with election as CM Sindh for record third time
LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) nominees, Maryam Nawaz and Murad Shah, were elected as Chief Ministers of Punjab and Sindh Provinces respectively on Monday.
in Lahore, Maryam Nawaz was elected as the first female chief minister of Punjab province amid a boycott of proceedings by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
The PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz, who has become the first-ever female chief minister of Punjab, won the elections after receiving 220 votes. Her opponent, Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) candidate Rana Aftab Aftab Ahmad, received zero (0) votes due to the boycott.
The session, which began at 11:30 am, was presided over by newly-elected Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan. The Punjab Assembly session witnessed an uproar as members of the opposition Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) boycotted the proceedings.
The Punjab Assembly session to elect the Chief Minister began on a sour note on Monday morning as members of the opposition Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) boycotted the proceedings right from the word go.
No sooner had Speaker Malik Ahmed Khan explained the procedure for the election of the chief minister than the members of the SIC stood up and heckled him by raising slogans. The SIC members later walked out of the assembly to register their protest over what they said “stolen mandate”.
Earlier, PML-N nominee Maryam Nawaz, who enjoys support of majority in the House, reached the premises and was warmly greeted by the party leaders. Maryam, who is the Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior vice president, became a member of the provincial assembly by winning the Feb 8 general elections from constituency 159 Lahore-XV.
The speaker explained the procedure of voting when the assembly session started. Later, the assembly secretary briefed the house on the voting procedure. In the meanwhile, the opposition SIC members raised the objection that house was incomplete as women’s reserved seats and minority members have not been named yet.
Speaker Khan formed a committee to negotiate with the protesters who briefly returned to the assembly but again moved out. The speaker then decided to proceed without the opposition.
At the start of the session, Speaker Khan said only elections will be held for the chief minster and no lawmaker was allowed to speak in today’s session.
As the SIC MPAs walked out, the speaker formed a committee, comprising Khawaja Salman Rafique, Salman Nazeer, Samiullah and Khalil Tahir Sindhu, to convince the legislators to return to the Assembly.
A day earlier, PML-N clinched victory in the Punjab Assembly speaker and deputy speaker elections in the house numerically dominated by the party.
PML-N’s leader Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan was elected as PA Speaker, amassing a commanding 224 votes out of the total 327 cast in the house.
At the same time, Malik Zaheer Ahmed Channer, the PML-N candidate for the deputy speaker position, emerged victorious against Mohammad Moinuddin from the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), garnering 220 votes.
The leaders of Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) said that Punjab will be run on the basis of opposition’s performance.
SIC’s nominee for the slot of chief minister Rana Aftab Ahmad was speaking to media along with party’s MNA Dr Nisar Jutt outside the Punjab Assembly on Monday.
“How the process will proceed further as the house isn’t completed yet,” questioned Rana Aftab. He added that the SIC will also move the court over the incompletion of the house. MNA-elect Dr Nisar Jutt said that he reached Punjab Assembly with the party’s nominee for the slot of chief minister but the security staff stopped both of them at Mall Road.
“You will have to take the opposition on board to run the house smoothly,” Rana Aftab said, while adding that they want to do something for the betterment of Punjab. He once again demanded that party’s senior member Mian Aslam Iqbal must be allowed to come to the house to participate in the election process.
Murad Ali Shah elected Sindh’s 25th Chief Minister
In Karachi, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Murad Ali Shah was elected 25th Chief Minister of Sindh on Monday.
Speaker Sindh Assembly Syed Awais Shah presided over the session during which newly elected MPA Nadir Ali Magsi took oath as the lawmaker of the house.
PPP Candidate Murad Ali Shah bagged a two-thirds majority by securing 112 votes against Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) candidate Ali Khurshidi who got 36 votes amid a boycott by the PTI and the JI.
Earlier, Ghulam Qadir Chandio, Saleh Shah and Naeem Kharal submitted the nomination papers to the assembly on behalf of Murad Ali Shah.
A day earlier, the assembly elected PPP’s Syed Awais Qadir Shah and Anthony Naveed as the new speaker and deputy speaker as the majority of the lawmakers voted for them.
It is to be noted that the Pakistan People’s Party is the largest single party in Sindh Assembly with 112 members.
Ali Amin Gandapur to vie for KP’s CM slot as an independent candidate
Ali Amin Gandapur, nominee for chief minister slot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has decided to contest for KP Assembly as an independent candidate.
The senior leader of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) will contest for chief minister position without any party affiliation. As per sources, Ali Amin hasn’t joined Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) yet, PTI has recommended to victorious candidates to join SIC to form government.
It must be noted that Ali Amin has also submitted the nomination papers for PTI intra-party elections for provincial presidency. Party sources has revealed, Ali Amin Gandapur hasn’t taken oath as a member of SIC party.
