On Tuesday, the coalition government suffered a heavy defeat as Supreme Court declared Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari’s ruling an unconstitutional decision and announced Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as the new chief minister of Punjab.
Hamza Shehbaz has now lost his position as ‘trustee chief minister,’ and his cabinet has also been declared ‘illegal’. The apex court has ordered the cabinet members, who took the oath just 24 hours ago, to vacate the offices.
The three-member bench, which included Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justices Ijazul Ahsan and Munib Akhtar, pronounced the decision after a prolonged delay of three hours. The Supreme Court premises was the centre of attraction since 11:30AM. The day started with a boycott of proceedings by Mazari and Pakistan Peoples Party.
However, the hearing continued and by 9:00AM, the court had given its verdict. The decision has been termed a big blow to the coalition government and PDM, who might challenge the previous decision of SC to not form a full court bench.
On 22 July 2022, Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari had rejected the 10 votes by PML-Q. As a result, Hamza was re-appointed as chief minister of Punjab, but Elahi challenged the ruling in Supreme Court.
After a continuous battle of four days, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and PML-Q have emerged victorious.