Punjab number game 2.0 — the quagmire continues, after LHC's decision

[ghazi52]

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Punjab number game 2.0 — the quagmire continues​

As things stand, Hamza Shehbaz has the support of 175 MPAs while Parvez Elahi lags behind with 168 MPAs.

Dawn.com
June 30, 2022

After the Lahore High Court's decision today, ordering a re-counting of votes, excluding those by PTI dissident lawmakers, for the Punjab chief minister's election held on April 16, the numbers game in the province has once again become the focus.

In its verdict, the high court retrospectively applied the Supreme Court's May 17 verdict on a presidential reference seeking interpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitution, which is related to the status of defecting lawmakers. The apex court had said that votes of defecting lawmakers will not be counted in the four instances outlined under Article 63-A.

These four instances are the election of prime minister and chief minister; a vote of confidence or no-confidence; a Constitution amendment bill; and a money bill.

During the April 16 Punjab CM election, Hamza Shehbaz had bagged 197 votes, including 25 from PTI dissidents, four from independents, and one from the lone Rah-i-Haq Party MPA. Five rebel PML-N lawmakers had abstained from voting in favour of Hamza.

The magic number required to show majority in the 371-strong house is 186.

In light of the LHC verdict, once a re-counting of the votes happens tomorrow, Hamza's tally will be trimmed to 172 votes after the 25 votes by PTI dissident lawmakers are excluded.

In that case, as per the high court's order, because Hamza loses his majority, a re-election will take place under Article 130(4) of the Constitution, which means that in this second round of voting, a member does not need to show support of a majority (186 votes) but simply requires more votes than any other candidate to be elected the chief minister.

It appears that in the run-off election, Hamza Shehbaz will be able to retain his CMship, primarily because he has been able to get back the support of three rebel PML-N lawmakers who had earlier not taken part in the election.
With the addition of these three MPAs, Hamza's tally has reached 175 — constituting 163 from the PML-N, seven from the PPP, four independent lawmakers, and one from the Rah-i-Haq Party.

The fifth independent MPA in the House, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, has so far distanced himself from the entire political drama and is not expected to vote for either side.

The PTI-PML-Q alliance currently has a total of 168 votes, constituting 158 PTI lawmakers and 10 from the PML-Q.
However, the LHC has ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to notify members of the PTI on five reserved seats in the Punjab Assembly following the disqualification of 25 MPAs over defection during the election of Hamza. The ECP is yet to act on the court's order but if these five members are notified before tomorrow's session, the strength of the PTI-PML-Q alliance would rise to 173 votes.

Clearly, if things remain the same, the PML-N will edge out its opponents by two votes and Hamza Shehbaz will become the chief minister again.

It is said that the PML-Q's candidate for the top post, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, has been making efforts to win over the support of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan; but even if that happens, he will be short by one vote. As things stand, the only way Elahi can be elected chief minister is if some members siding with Hamza abstain from voting tomorrow.
However, with by-elections scheduled for July 17 on 20 seats that fell vacant after the disqualification of PTI's dissident lawmakers, the Punjab number game will surely change again.

Punjab number game 2.0 — the quagmire continues

As things stand, Hamza Shehbaz has the support of 175 MPAs while Parvez Elahi lags behind with 168 MPAs.

www.dawn.com

 

[nomi007]

Please called Lohar High Court.

 

[ghazi52]

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LHC orders re-counting of votes for Punjab CM election excluding PTI dissidents​

Rana Bilal
June 30, 2022

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday ordered re-counting of votes for the election of Punjab's chief minister held on April 16, instructing that the votes of 25 dissident PTI lawmakers be excluded from the counting process.

A five-member bench comprising Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan, Justice Shahid Jamil Khan, Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry, Justice Sajid Mahmood Sethi and Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh announced the verdict with a 4-1 majority.

In a short order issued after the hearing, the LHC instructed that votes in the election held on April 16 be recounted after excluding 25 votes of the defecting lawmakers. If the required majority for Hamza — which is 186 votes in the 371-member strong house — to stay the CM is not secured, the election will be held again under Article 130(4), unless another candidate has majority votes.

According to Article 130(4), in the second round of voting, a member will not require 186 votes but simply needs a majority of those "present and voting" to be elected the chief minister.

The court said that Hamza will cease to be the chief minister if he loses the required majority after the exclusion of 25 votes by the presiding officer. However, it pointed out, functions performed and powers exercised by Hamza will be "protected under the de facto doctrine" in accordance with the law.

For the recounting of votes and re-election, if required, a PA session will be held on July 1 (tomorrow) at 4pm. The LHC stressed that the session cannot be prorogued until the election process was completed and the presiding officer "intimated the result of the elected chief minister to the governor".

The governor shall preform his duty, under Article 130(5), of administering oath without any hesitation, at any time before 11am the very next day, it directed.

The court added that "any attempt of disorder from any quarter shall be taken as contempt of court and shall be proceeded accordingly by this larger bench on formal information by any person".

Hamza was elected as the Punjab CM on April 16 during a provincial assembly session that was marred by violence. He received a total of 197 votes — 11 more than the required 186 — including from 25 dissident PTI MPAs that were crucial for his victory. On May 20, those lawmakers were de-seated by the ECP for defecting.

After the LHC's order of excluding the votes of 25 defecting members, Hamza's tally has now been trimmed to 172 votes, which no longer holds the strength of the house. Therefore, as per the court's order, a re-election is bound to be held.

PTI to approach SC against verdict​

Later in the day, PTI Chairman Imran Khan said the party would approach the SC against the LHC's ruling. He questioned how Hamza could remain CM when the high court had ordered a recount.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry was of the opinion that the LHC's decision had further aggravated the political crisis in the province. "Hamza's government has not survived but the solution given will not end the constitutional crisis," he observed, adding that the verdict had "many flaws".

"We are calling a meeting of [our] legal committee," he said, also adding that the party would approach the SC against the "flaws" in the LHC's verdict.




PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar, on the other hand, said that the PTI was unable to understand and interpret the verdict.

Speaking to the media in Lahore, he maintained that the LHC had not annulled the Punjab CM election and had also not directed to hold fresh elections.

He went on to say that even if a run-off election took place, Hamza would still come out on top. According to Tarar, the PML-N had the support of 177 lawmakers after five of their rebel MPAs had returned back to the party while the PTI-PML-Q alliance had 168.

"We have a majority at the moment and we are confident that we will win a run-off election," he said.

Dissenting note​

In his dissenting note, Justice Sajid Mahmood Sethi said that the votes of the 25 PTI dissidents cast in favour of Hamza were "admitted", therefore, there was no need to repeat the exercise of counting/recounting.

The judge noted that in the 371-strong PA, the requisite number needed to become chief minister was 186 votes. He went on to say that from the record, Hamza obtained 197 votes.

"Therefore, the stance of Advocate Amir Rawn that actually 195 votes were cast in favour of respondent does not restrict this bench to order for second poll as per the aforesaid provision of the Constitution so as to implement the judgment of the honourable apex court straightaway, especially when petitions to the extent of challenging election as a whole stand dismissed by this bench."

Justice Sethi also said that after excluding the 25 votes, Hamza had 172 votes. "Therefore, he is not member elected within the contemplation of Article 130(4) of the Constitution and being a stranger to the office of chief minister, cannot be allowed to hold the office," he said.

He went on to say that it would give political advantage to the respondent over the other contesting candidate. "This, the office of a non-elected member cannot be protected which even otherwise appear to be against the mandate of Article133 of the Constitution," he said.

Justice Sethi said that in view of the above, the constitutional petitions were allowed. "Consequently, Usman Ahmed Khan Buzdar, is restored to the office of Chief Minister of the Punjab with immediate effect, as he was on said date," he said.

The petitions​

In his petition, Elahi, who was also the PTI-PML-Q's candidate for the CM Office, requested the court to declare that Hamza was not the chief minister since he had failed to secure the requisite number of votes in light of the SC's interpretation stating the votes of defecting lawmakers would not be counted.

Therefore, the April 16 election, its results and the certificate issued by the Punjab Assembly deputy speaker to Hamza declaring his victory had "no legal effect", the petition stated.

The petition requested the high court to declare "all consequential actions taken by [Hamza] in his purported capacity as the chief minister Punjab and all and any other communications made, orders passed and notifications issued etc., consequential upon the declaration of the afore-mentioned result and issuing the set certificate ... to be null and void".

Separately, PTI's petition, which was filed by MPAs Mohammad Sibtain Khan, Zainab Umair, Mian Mohammad Aslam Iqbal, Syed Abbas Ali Shah and Ahsan Saleem Baryar, stated that the session held for conducting the election witnessed "immense chaos and most unfortunate events".

Deputy Speaker Mazari took "unlawful" aid from the police and provincial officials for holding a "sham and fraudulent" election, following which he communicated that Hamza had won, the petition said.

It noted that votes of 25 dissident PTI MPAs were also counted in the final tally for Hamza. While the then governor Cheema had refused to accept the election results, Hamza was administered the oath due to "judicial overreach", it contended.

"As per the investigation conducted by the [then] honourable governor of Punjab, the respondent secretary of the provincial assembly has tendered a report detailing the various dimensions of the election held on 16.04.2022 and has categorically informed the [then] honourable governor that the referred elections were/are unlawful; thus consequently the certificate issued by the respondent deputy speaker/acting speaker was/is without any lawful sanction/legal authority," the petition reads.

According to the petition, Hamza's election was in violation of the Constitution and the Rules of Business of the Punjab Assembly. It recalled that Hamza had approached the LHC for holding the election, adding that he treated it as an urgent matter because he had the support of 25 dissident PTI MPAs, which was a violation of Article 63 of the Constitution.

An analysis of the Supreme Court's interpretation would lead to the conclusion that the chief minister's election was unlawful, it stated.

"On this ground alone and keeping in view the scope and intent behind Article 63-A of the Constitution, the election held on 16.04.2022 [should] be declared as being without lawful authority and consequently be struck down."

 

[ghazi52]

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PTI to approach SC against LHC's Hamza Shahbaz ruling​

Fawad Chaudhry says high court's ruling 'flawed', has further aggravated ongoing political crisis in Punjab

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ET
June 30, 2022

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry pictured during a presser, in Islamabad on Jan. 25, 2022.

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LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Thursday that the party will approach the Supreme Court against the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) ruling on Hamza Shahbaz's election as Punjab chief minister.

The former minister said the LHC's ruling was flawed and the decision has further aggravated the ongoing political crisis in the province.

“The government has not survived, but the solution that has been given will not end the crisis,” he said.

Stating that the party will approach the apex court, Fawad Chaudhry added that a legal committee had been convened to discuss the “flaws” of the ruling.

Earlier on Thursday, the LHC declared the election of Hamza Shahbaz as Punjab CM void, and ordering a recount of votes excluding PTI dissidents. The high court also admitted the PTI’s petitions challenging the CM's election for hearing.

The PTI, in their writ petitions, had stated that Hamza's election in the Punjab Assembly was "illegal", did not follow due processes, and that his notification as the chief of Punjab must also be set aside as it was not in line with the law. A third petition pleaded that Hamza's oath-taking be declared illegal.

The five-member larger bench gave a 4:1 decision on the matter.

"The decision by the August Supreme Court of not counting votes of defecting members of a political party is squarely applicable to the election of Chief Minister held on 14th April 2022," said the judgement.

According to the written judgement from the LHC, it was an "undeniable fact" that 25 PTI MPAs had voted in favour of Hamza Shahbaz, despite the party nominating PML-Q leader Pervez Elahi as its candidate. The dissident lawmakers' move went against Article 63 A(1)(b) of the Constitution.

 

[Catalystic]

Topi Drama continues……..no end to this circus. Entire world progress but these people still stuck on this crap

 

[imadul]

Decision is VERY CAREFULLY CRAFTED.