ISLAMABAD: The ruling coalition has decided to remove Punjab Assembly’s Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari from his post, Bol News reported.
According to reports, the new government will soon submit a no-confidence motion against the deputy speaker in the provincial assembly. The voting to remove the deputy speaker will be held 14 days after the motion is submitted.
The government is considering the names of Wasiq Qayyum and Malik Taimur are being considered for the position of PA deputy speaker slot.
The coalition government comprising the PTI and PML-Q has a majority of 186 members in Punjab Assembly. The PML-N and allied parties have 179 members. However, the voting for speaker and deputy speaker is held by secret ballot.
Earlier, PTI leader Sibtain Khan will be the next Speaker of the Punjab Assembly. The names of Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, Aslam Iqbal, Zain Qureshi and Usman Buzdar were also considered for the coveted post.
The seat fell vacant after PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi become the chief minister. The approval was made after a meeting between Pervaiz Elahi and PTI chairman Imran Khan.
Sibtain Khan was previously the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly. He was elected MPA from PP-88 (Mianwali-IV) constituency in 2018 Pakistani general election as a PTI candidate.
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi took oath as new Punjab chief minister in the wee hours of Wednesday after the Supreme Court annulled a ruling by the deputy speaker to reject 10 votes of the PML-Q
The swearing-in ceremony place in the President’s House in Islamabad, where President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath of office to the newly-elected Punjab chief minister.
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 Punjab governor was “unable or unwilling” to do so.
A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Atta Bandial, Justices Ijazul Ahsan and Munib Akhtar struck down Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari’s ruling on 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 Pervaiz Elahi the chief minister.
During the election held on July 22, Deputy Speaker Mazari had decided against counting the votes of 10 PML-Q lawmakers, cast in Elahi’s favour, citing a letter written by party President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.
The deputy speaker’s decision was reversed by the supreme court in its ruling on Pervaiz Elahi’s petition. The court asked the Punjab Chief Secretary to issue a notification on Pervaiz Elahi’s election.
