After much delay and speculation, the Supreme Court late on Tuesday declared Chaudhry Parvez Elahi as the duly elected chief minister of Punjab for securing 186 votes against the 179 of his opponent, PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz. The short order authored by the Chief Justice of Pakistan set aside the July 22 ruling of Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari and declared it void, without lawful authority and of no legal effect.
Following this much-awaited decision, President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath to Chaudhry Pervez Elahi in Islamabad during the early hours of Wednesday morning. The proceedings carried over to the following day as Mr Elahi had to rush from Lahore to the federal capital after Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman refused to carry out the job. The order not only declared the ruling of Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari as void but also added that Hamza Shehbaz was not a duly elected CM and that all of the acts, deeds and things that took place under his tenure had no lawful authority.
While the judicial saga may have come to a close for now, political tensions between the PDM and PTI coalition continue to be on the rise. Despite all that has taken place over the past couple of weeks, there appears to be no appetite for introspection and reaching across the aisle to find some kind of common ground so that the entire country is not paralysed as a result of the ongoing chaos.
It is extremely unfortunate to witness threats being exchanged between the two sides because it only furthers the popular sentiment that the political elite is too caught up in its own squabbles to be concerned about the plight of the common man. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has warned of imposing governor’s rule in Punjab in response to Fawad Chaudhry’s threat of restricting the movement of federal ministers in the province. Both threats might be empty but flare political tensions.
This trend is unsustainable and the country must not be held hostage to this political conflict. The PTI has come out victorious in this round and must exhibit more grace. As far as the federal coalition is concerned, all is not lost and it is possible that the new CM will not want to dissolve the assembly immediately. Now is the time for both sides to self-reflect and understand that one of the core principles of politics is to negotiate and compromise. There are key issues to resolve in the run-up to the general elections—even if they were to be held at the latest possible date—and the country desperately needs mature leadership at this point.
Following this much-awaited decision, President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath to Chaudhry Pervez Elahi in Islamabad during the early hours of Wednesday morning. The proceedings carried over to the following day as Mr Elahi had to rush from Lahore to the federal capital after Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman refused to carry out the job. The order not only declared the ruling of Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari as void but also added that Hamza Shehbaz was not a duly elected CM and that all of the acts, deeds and things that took place under his tenure had no lawful authority.
While the judicial saga may have come to a close for now, political tensions between the PDM and PTI coalition continue to be on the rise. Despite all that has taken place over the past couple of weeks, there appears to be no appetite for introspection and reaching across the aisle to find some kind of common ground so that the entire country is not paralysed as a result of the ongoing chaos.
It is extremely unfortunate to witness threats being exchanged between the two sides because it only furthers the popular sentiment that the political elite is too caught up in its own squabbles to be concerned about the plight of the common man. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has warned of imposing governor’s rule in Punjab in response to Fawad Chaudhry’s threat of restricting the movement of federal ministers in the province. Both threats might be empty but flare political tensions.
This trend is unsustainable and the country must not be held hostage to this political conflict. The PTI has come out victorious in this round and must exhibit more grace. As far as the federal coalition is concerned, all is not lost and it is possible that the new CM will not want to dissolve the assembly immediately. Now is the time for both sides to self-reflect and understand that one of the core principles of politics is to negotiate and compromise. There are key issues to resolve in the run-up to the general elections—even if they were to be held at the latest possible date—and the country desperately needs mature leadership at this point.
