ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party on Saturday launched a Supreme Court challenge to a key vote in Punjab province, which it lost a day earlier due to a controversial ruling by the local assembly’s deputy speaker.
The vote was held to determine whether the province’s Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz, the son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, had the backing of the majority of MPs in the country’s most populous province.
Shehbaz retained the post in a blow to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party and its allies, which last week won 15 out of 20 seats that were up for grabs in the election for the 371-member provincial assembly.
Khan’s candidate for chief minister, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, won 186 votes, but the assembly’s deputy speaker, Dost Mohammad Mazari, invalidated 10 of them, citing voting rules violations.
Elahi challenged Mazari’s ruling in the Supreme Court on Saturday, but after an hours-long hearing the apex court decided Shehbaz would remain in office as the trustee chief minister until Monday to prevent a vacuum of power.
“Hamza Shehbaz will work in accordance with the law and the constitution until then,” the court said, as it summoned the deputy speaker to explain his position on the ruling during the next hearing.
Khan called on supporters to rally against the Punjab assembly deputy speaker, and protesters on Friday began taking to the streets in major cities across Pakistan. The demonstrations remained peaceful.
The former PM was removed from office in a vote of no-confidence on April 10 after he lost a majority in parliament.
He has since held several anti-government demonstrations across the country, saying his ouster was part of a Washington-backed “foreign conspiracy.” The US has repeatedly denied the allegations.
The former premier has refused to recognize the new government of Sharif and has repeatedly called for early parliamentary elections.
Sharif’s administration has rejected the challenge, saying the next polls will be held on time in 2023.
