LAHORE: Punjab Governor Baligh ur-Rehman on Saturday administered the oath of office to Hamza Shehbaz who was re-elected as chief minister of the province in a dubious election.
The oath was administered at a ceremony held at the Governor’s House at The Mall in Lahore. Lawmakers from his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as well as allied parties, and representatives of the armed forces, attended the event.
Prior to the oath-taking, Kamran Ali Afzal, the chief secretary, read the order of the appointment.
In the television footage of the ceremony, slogans of “Aik Zardari Sab Pe Bhaari” (one Zardari trumps all) were heard immediately after Shehbaz took the oath.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was sidelined in the vote Friday night, despite winning the make-or-break by-election on July 17. Party chair Imran Khan slammed the development and called on his supporters to rally across Pakistan.
The vote was held to determine whether the sitting chief minister enjoyed the backing of the majority of lawmakers in the House.
In Friday’s vote, Khan’s candidate for chief minister, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, initially won 186 votes but the deputy speaker, Dost Mohammad Mazari, invalidated 10 of those votes over purported violations of voting regulations.
In a statement broadcast on national television, Mazari announced that 10 lawmakers from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), headed by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, had violated regulations by voting contrary to demands from their leader, Hussain, who had allegedly asked they abstain from voting.
Under the law, votes are disqualified if lawmakers vote contrary to their party’s instructions.
In the end, Hamza Shahbaz won 179 votes Friday, retaining his post.
Khan claimed his opponents had resorted to political machinations in Punjab and called on the nation to rally against Mazari’s ruling. By Friday night, protesters had started taking to the streets in major cities across Pakistan but the rallies remained peaceful.
— With AP
