In its detailed judgement, Supreme Court has appreciated the political leadership’s ‘positive attitude’ in resolving the Punjab chief minister re-election dispute.
The 10-page order authored by Justice Ijazul Ahsan, who was part of the three-member bench, which included Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Jamal Mandokhail, said: “…we wish to record our appreciation regarding the positive and constructive attitude adopted and the role played not only by the top leadership of three political parties involved in the dispute but also by the respective learned counsel.”
The top court added that after all the parties had assured the court that they would ensure the Constitution is upheld, it decided to extend the date for the election to July 22.
On Friday, the apex court had announced that the re-election for the Punjab chief minister’s slot would be held on July 22 — after the provincial government, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) reached a consensus.
During the hearing, Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervez Elahi had agreed that Hamza Shehbaz can remain the chief minister till July 17, but the PTI had disagreed.
Subsequently, the apex court had directed Elahi to speak to PTI Chairperson Imran Khan and come up with a solution. When the hearing resumed, all the parties agreed that Hamza would remain the chief minister till the re-election.
The former ruling party had filed a petition in the top court seeking the annulment of the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) verdict that had directed the governor to hold a re-election for the Punjab CM’s slot on Friday at 4pm.
