LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Maryam Nawaz was on Sunday elected as Punjab chief minister amid a boycott of polls by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
Maryam, who has become the first female chief minister in the history of Pakistan, won the elections after receiving the support of 220 MPAs in the provincial assembly.
His opponent, Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) candidate Rana Aftab Aftab Ahmad, did not get any votes as the party boycotted the elections after they were prevented from speaking.
“Votes were counted according to which Maryam got 220 votes and SIC candidate Rana Aftab Aftab got zero votes,” President Malik Ahmad Khan said while presiding over the session.
SIC boycott
The session, which began with a delay of more than 30 minutes, was chaired by newly elected Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan.
At the beginning of the session, President Khan administered oath to two MPAs and then assured the lawmakers that he would lead the House without any bias.
The speaker then informed the Assembly that after completing scrutiny of nomination papers, PML-N's Maryam Nawaz and SIC's Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan had emerged as the candidates vying for the post of prime minister.
The speaker then directed the Secretary of the Assembly to inform the members about the voting process.
Once this was done, the SIC CM candidate asked the Speaker to address the House to raise a point of order, but he was prohibited from speaking.
“In today's session only elections for the prime minister will be held. You cannot speak in today's session,” President Khan told the SIC candidate while trying to speak.
After being prevented from speaking, the SIC members left the House, causing a delay in the start of the elections.
When the SIC MPAs withdrew, the President formed a committee, comprising Khawaja Salman Rafique, Salman Nazeer, Samiullah and Khalil Tahir Sindhu, to convince the legislators to return to the Assembly.
The speaker then also sent Ali Haider Gilani of the PPP and Chaudhry Shafay Hussain of the PML-Q to convince the SIC AMPs to return for the last time.
Upon sending them, the spokesperson warned that if the legislators do not return, he will continue with the process.
However, the efforts were in vain and the president went ahead with the procedure and began the process of electing a new leader of the House.
Each member who cast a vote was sent to the lobby and remained there until the completion of the voting process.
Once the votes were counted, the members were invited back to the Assembly for the announcement of the results.
the numbers game
PML-N candidate Maryam Nawaz appears to be more likely to bag the CM post as her party enjoys a majority in the provincial assembly after the February 8 general elections.
If she wins the election, Maryam will be the first woman to serve as chief minister in the history of Pakistan.
The PML-N currently has the support of 224 MPAs in the provincial assembly.
Maryam's opponent, SIC's Rana Aftab Aftab Ahmad, has the support of 103 AMP.
Aftab served as an MPA of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) for three terms in the Punjab Assembly in 1988, 1993 and 2002. He joined the PTI in 2013 and is now serving his fourth term.
To win the CM election, a candidate needs to get the support of the majority, which is 187 members in the house that currently has 327 seats.
Fourth member of Sharif family to rule Punjab
Apart from becoming the country's first female chief minister, Maryam will also become the fourth member of the Sharif family and the first female member of his family to be elected CM if she wins the contest.
The PML-N senior vice president was elected to two Lahore seats (NA 119 and PP-159) and later retired from the National Assembly seat.
In PP-159 constituency, he contested against PTI-affiliated candidate Mehr Sharafat and won by a narrow margin.
Overall, he is the sixth member of the Sharif family to have been elected in general or by-elections.
Before her, Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Abbas Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz and Begum Kalsoom Nawaz were elected from Lahore.
