Newly-elected Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan began the voting process for the election of chief minister on Sunday (today) with members of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) boycotting the session.
The session, which began with over a 30-minute delay, was disrupted after SIC members walked out of the assembly after the speaker turned down their request to address the forum.
At the start of the session, Speaker Khan administered oath to two MPAs and then assured the lawmakers that he would run the House without any bias.
The speaker then briefed the Assembly that after completing the scrutiny of the nomination papers, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Maryam Nawaz and SIC’s Aftab Ahmad Khan had emerged as the candidates vying for the chief minister’s slot.
Following this, the speaker directed the secretary of the Assembly to brief the members about the voting process.
Once this was completed, the SIC’s candidate for CM requested the speaker to address the House on a point of order but was barred from speaking.
“In today’s session, only a chief minister has to be elected. You cannot talk in today’s meeting,” the PA speaker said, following which a commotion erupted and the SIC members walked out of the assembly.
Speaker Khan constituted a four-member committee to convince the SIC members to participate in the CM’s election. The SIC members said they would not return to the house until they were given permission to talk on the point of order.
The negotiating committee included Khawaja Salman Rafique, Imran Nazeer, Khalil Tahir Sindhu and Samiullah.
The speaker said he had to run the house in accordance with the constitution and the point of order could not be held on election day.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) candidate Maryam Nawaz, said that the opposition should not leave the house or boycott the election. “They should contest the poll, whether they win or get defeated, as it was the beauty of a democracy,” she maintained.
The speaker then also sent PPP’s Ali Haider Gilani and PML-Q’s Chaudhry Shafay Hussain to convince the SIC MPAs to return for the last time.
While sending them the speaker warned that if the lawmakers do not return then he would move forward with the proceedings.
However, the efforts to bring back the SIC lawmakers went in vain and the speaker continued with the proceedings to elect a new speaker with female members casting their votes.
The members will remain in the lobby till completion of the voting process.
Who will win CM election?
Maryam is expected to win the election as her party has the backing of a majority of the house members, 224, after the February 8 general elections.
The PML-N’s senior vice-president will create a new history by becoming Pakistan’s first-ever female chief minister if elected.
Maryam’s opponent, Aftab Ahmad Khan, is the candidate fielded by the SIC, who has the support of 103 MPAs in the house.
Aftab has served as a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA for three terms in the Punjab Assembly in 1988, 1993 and 2002. He joined the PTI in 2013 and is now serving his fourth term.
To win the CM’s election, a candidate needs to win the backing of the majority which is 187 members in the house that currently has 327 seats.
The PML-N and SIC are expected to hold separate meetings of the parliamentary parties ahead of the assembly session.
Maryam to be 4th Punjab CM from Sharif family
Apart from becoming the first female chief minister in the country, Maryam will also become the fourth member of the Sharif family and the first woman member of her family to get elected as CM if she wins the contest.
The PML-N’s chief organiser was elected on two seats in Lahore — NA 119 and PP-159 — but later she withdrew from the National Assembly seat.
In the PP-159 constituency, she contested against the PTI-affiliated candidate Mehr Sharafat and won with a slim margin.
Overall, she is the sixth member of the Sharif family who has been elected in a general or a by-election.
Before her, Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Abbas Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz and Begum Kalsoom Nawaz were elected from Lahore.
PML-N decides cabinet members
Meanwhile, the PML-N has started finalising the names for Maryam’s cabinet.
Party sources said that it was decided that the provincial cabinet would be constituted in a phased manner and for the first phase some names were under discussion.
They said the provincial cabinet of the PML-N leader will contain ministers from the allied parties.
Sources said in the first phase, 15 to 20 ministers were expected to be included in the cabinet from the PML-N with two each from the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), and one from the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP).
The names under discussion included PML-N leaders Marriyum Aurangzeb, Azma Bokhari, Tahir Sindhu, Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rahman, Khawaja Salman Rafiq, Bilal Yasin, Khawaja Imran Nazir, Rukhsana Kausar, Manshaullah Butt, Sardar Sher Ali Gurchani, Kazim Ali Pirzada, Colonel (retired) Muhammad Ayub Khan Gadhi, Malik Asif Bhai, Akhtar Bosal, Rahila Khadim Hussain, Mian Yawar Zaman, Fida Hussain Watto, Tanveer Aslam Malik, Malik Asad Khokhar, Farrukh Ali Javed and Sheikh Salman Naeem.
Sources further claimed that PPP’s Syed Ali Haider Gillani, Malik Ghazanfar Abbas Chheena of the IPP and Chaudhary Shafay Hussain of the PML-Q are likely to be inducted into the provincial cabinet.
Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1161693-punjab-assembly-to-elect-new-chief-minister-with-prospect-high-for-maryam
