The Chief Justice has refused to rule on the Punjab Assembly’s impasse

ISLAMABAD: Referring the matter to the Lahore High Court (LHC), Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial declined to rule on the Punjab Assembly’s impasse on Thursday.

The chief justice said this in response to the Punjab Advocate General raising the issue of Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Hamza Shahbaz being elected as a new chief minister by the joint opposition MPAs in a symbolic session of the Punjab Assembly (PA) at the Supreme Court in Islamabad during the hearing of the suo moto case regarding the dismissal of a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.

Punjab’s advocate general stated that the constitution was of less relevance to them. On April 7, former governor Hamza Shahbaz would be sworn in as the new chief minister of Pakistan at Bagh e Jinnah in Lahore, he stated (today). He said, “Hamza has also called a conference of officials today.”
Umar Ata Bandial stated that the Supreme Court will not rule on the Punjab Assembly case. He stated that the subject should be brought to the Lahore High Court, as he did not want to draw focus away from NA’s case.

Justice Mazhar Alam Mian Khel inquired if the assembly’s doors could be legitimately locked, as they were on April 6.

Azam Nazeer Tarar, a PML-N politician and attorney, said the PA members were representatives of the people and wondered what the public representatives should do if they were prevented from attending the assembly.

The Punjab advocate general and Azam Tarar were both removed from the rostrum by the CJP.

In a symbolic session of the Punjab Assembly (PA) conducted at a local hotel on Wednesday night, Hamza Shahbaz, the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, was chosen as the new chief minister by the united opposition MPAs.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTIJahangir )’s Khan Tareen and Aleem Khan groups held a symbolic Punjab Assembly session at the hotel on Wednesday in protest of the Punjab Assembly building being barricaded with barbed wires on Wednesday, amid confusion over the scheduling of all-important sessions for the election of the new chief minister of Punjab following Usman Buzdar’s resignation.

According to reports, 199 members of the legislature who attended the symbolic session voted for Hamza.

The PTI has nominated Speaker of the Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as CM candidate, whereas the Opposition parties have chosen Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz as CM candidate.