President Administers Oath Of Punjab CM To Pervaiz Elahi

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jul, 2022 ) :President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday administered the oath of office to Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi after the Supreme Court declared him the Chief Minister of Punjab, striking down the deputy speaker's ruling on the election.

The swearing in ceremony was held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr late at night and attended by the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Pervaiz Elahi flew from Lahore to Islamabad for the swearing in as the apex court had asked the president to administer the oath, in case the Punjab governor was "unable or unwilling" to do so.

A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar struck down Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari's ruling on the Punjab chief minister's election, declaring his "understanding and implementation" of Article 63A(1)(b) of the Constitution "incorrect and erroneous".

The verdict made PML-N's Hamza Shehbaz lose his status of the "trustee" chief minister and made his rival Parvez Elahi the Punjab's chief minister.

During the election held on July 22, Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Mazari had decided against counting the votes of 10 PML-Q lawmakers, which were cast in Elahi's favour, citing a letter written by party President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in which he had instructed them to vote for Hamza instead.

The deputy speaker's decision had favoured Hamza Shehbaz which was reversed by the Supreme Court in its ruling on Pervaiz Elahi's petition.

As directed by the court, the Punjab Chief Secretary issued a notification on Pervaiz Elahi's election, which read, "Consequent upon the short order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan under Constitution Petition No. 22 of 2022, dated 26.07.2022 Mr Pervez Elahi is declared duly elected Chief Minister of the Punjab with immediate effect."