Opposition holds session in hotel after Assembly sealed, 'elects' Hamza Shehbaz as Pakistan Punjab CM: Report

After the Punjab Assembly was sealed off with barbed wires and the building's main gate was locked, the opposition lawmakers, led by the PML-N, held a session of their own at a private hotel, with PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz claiming that Hamza Shehbaz had been "elected" as the Punjab chief minister, the website of Pakistan's English daily Dawn reported on Wednesday night.

The legality of the session and Hamza's subsequent "victory" was unclear as the session was held outside the Punjab Assembly and attended only by opposition lawmakers, while neither Speaker Parvez Elahi nor Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari presided it. Furthermore, no notifications regarding the change of session's venue or Hamza's "victory" were issued by the Punjab Assembly secretariat.

The session was instead presided over by PPP MPA Shazia Abid, who was quoted as saying by Dawn.com that she was appointed to the panel of chairmen for the 40th session of the Punjab Assembly on April 3. Her presence on the panel was corroborated by a statement issued by Punjab Assembly Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti on April 2.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif later tweeted that Hamza had been "elected" as Punjab's new chief minister by the opposition members with 199 votes.

Speaking on the legality of today's vote, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah told Geo News that assembly session had been held at Faletti's Hotel in the past as well, adding that if a majority of the MPAs had expressed their confidence in Hamza then "indeed constitutionally and legally Hamza is Punjab's CM."

Addressing a press conference after the session, Maryam and Hamza thanked Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's dissident Jahangir Khan Tareen and Aleem Khan groups, the PPP and others for their support.

Reacting to the development, PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi, whose father and party leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi is also a candidate for chief ministry, quipped: "Congratulations Hamza sahab for becoming the chief minister of Faletti's Hotel."

Earlier, while talking to the media in Lahore, Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari said that an assembly session could be called anywhere.

He said he had consulted legal experts who advised him to carry out the chief minister's election "immediately on today's date".

Mazari alleged the PA Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and his staff were afraid that he would create a dangerous situation for them.

He said he had exercised his authority in accordance with the Constitution as the biggest province of Pakistan was without a chief minister.

It is pertinent to mention that during a Supreme Court hearing earlier in the day, Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial was told that the Punjab Assembly staff were not following the directives issued by the deputy speaker. At this, he had remarked that if the system was not cooperating then constitutional officeholders could use their rights.

Earlier in the day, a large contingent of police carrying batons and equipped with shields was deployed outside the actual building of the assembly. Water cannons and Rescue 1122 vehicles were also present outside the assembly's building.

The development coincided with the submission of a no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari, after he said the session for the chief minister's election would take place tonight at 7:30 pm, but a spokesperson for the provincial assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) denied the development.