LAHORE - Former chief minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, Hamza Shahbaz has announced to challenge the election of Punjab Assembly Speaker, a private news channel reported on Friday.
According to details, the former chief minister announced to challenge the Punjab Assembly Speaker’s election, saying that the poll was rigged. He raised objections over the serial numbers printed on the ballot papers.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Sibtan Khan was elected as the new speaker of the Punjab Assembly.
Sibtain Khan won the election after securing 185 votes while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Saif ul Malook Khokhar obtained 175 votes. He was later sworn in as the speaker.
Four votes were rejected out of the 364 votes cast during the session, which was chaired by Panel of Chairman Wasim Badozai. The rejected votes included three of the Opposition and one of the PTI.
The Punjab Assembly speaker’s seat fell vacant after the former office bearer Parvaiz Elahi was elected as the chief minister of Punjab on July 26.
Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi chaired a joint meeting of PTI and PMLQ’s provincial parliamentary party held on Friday at the Punjab Assembly. Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umer, Fawad Chaudhry, Umer Sarfraz Cheema, Ejaz Shah, Aun Abbas Bapi, Raja Basharat, Mian Mehmood-ul-Rashid, Mian Aslam Iqbal and MPAs attended the meeting. At least 186 assembly members reiterated their determination to make the government’s candidate Sibtain Khan successful in the election of the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly. The parliamentary party formulated a strategy for the election of the Speaker and MPAs were briefed about the election procedure. The CM asserted that Allah Almighty would also succeed them in this phase and Sibtain Khan would clinch victory. Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the majority was with them and Sibtain Khan will win. Asad Umer said that they are having full confidence in their colleagues.