Hamza Shehbaz elected Punjab Chief Minister amid rumpus

Lahore: Leader of the opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz got elected as the 21st Chief Minister of Punjab province on Saturday. Before voting the assembly house turned out to be a fish market as members from both the treasury and opposition benches clashed with each other to appearently delay the voting process ordered by the Lahore High Court.

As many as 197 members voted in favor of Hamza Shahbaz to get him elected as the new provincial executive.

Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari presided over the session while standing in the speaker’s gallery. The PTI and PML-Q boycotted the voting process and walked out of the house. PML-Q leader and former Punjab Assembly SpeakerChaudhry Pervez Elahi recieved one vote.

This is first time in the history of Pakistani politics that the father (Shehbaz Sharif) and the son (Hamza Shehbaz)have become the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Chief Minister of Punjab at the same time.

Earlier, Anti-Riot Force has entered the premises of the Punjab Assembly to control the aggressive and violent MPAs of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

As per details, the members of PTI and PML-Q attacked the police personnel upon which Anti-Riot Force has taken Umer Tanveer, Ejaz Jazi and Nadeem Qureshi into custody. Police has taken control of the speaker’s dice. Police entered the premises of Punjab Assembly through old building.

During the operation, PML-Q chief Chaudhry Pervez Elahi become injured. He received injuries on his arm. Rescue workers gave first aid to the Elahi.

Earlier, when the session of Punjab Assembly was started for voting on Punjab Chief Minister, the members of PTI and PML-Q violently attacked Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari.

The attack on Mazari and the ruckus inside the provincial assembly was strongly crticised by the government and PML-N leaders.

PTI/PMLQ MPAs attack on Dy Speaker inside Punjab Assembly must be condemned in strongest terms possible. This blatant display of violence & hooliganism is fascism, pure & simple. IK’s desperation & incitement to violence is rupturing our society. He is attacking democracy itself.

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) April 16, 2022

Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the attack on the deputy speaker "must be condemned in strongest terms possible" and declared the violence inside the assembly "fascism".

Prior to the resumption of the session, television footage showed Elahi being given oxygen while his right forearm was bandaged.

He alleged that PML-N MPA Rana Mashood broke his hand. "During his (Shehbaz's) exile, I took care of Hamza [Shehbaz] but today he showed his reality," he said. "This is Sharif's democracy. They have crossed the limits today."