Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan will address his party members on Wednesday night, a day after the country's top court announced that his ally Pakistan Muslim League (Q) leader Pervaiz Elahi would be the new Chief Minister of Punjab province, replacing Hamza Shahbaz of Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N).
"I want to thank the nation for coming out spontaneously last evening in support of the SC decision upholding Constitution & the Law. Tonight I will address our people at 10:00 pm giving them our way forward for a sovereign Pakistan," former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted.
PML's Pervaiz Elahi took the oath as the chief minister of Pakistan's eastern Punjab province on Wednesday morning during a ceremony held at the President House.
Pakistani President Arif Alvi administered the oath of office to the newly elected chief minister after Governor Punjab Muhammad Baligh-ur-Rehman excused himself from conducting it.
On Tuesday, the Pakistan Supreme Court night ordered the governor to administer an oath for Elahi at 11:30 p.m. local time on the same night, adding that the president would have to conduct it if the governor failed to manage it.
Elahi was declared the chief minister by the apex court in response to his petition against Deputy Speaker of Punjab Assembly Dost Mazari, who during an election in the assembly last Friday had rejected 10 votes of PML out of 186 total votes received by Elahi against 179 votes by Hamza Shahbaz of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Elahi was a joint candidate of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of former prime minister Imran Khan and the PML.
Mazari announced Shahbaz, son of Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, as the chief minister and said that the 10 votes of the PML were excluded since its Chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain wrote a letter to his party members to vote for Shahbaz.
The court overruled the election of Shahbaz and declared Elahi the winner.
Earlier on April 16, Shahbaz was elected as the new chief minister of Punjab with 197 votes, including 25 dissidents of the PTI. On May 20, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-seated 25 dissident members of the provincial assembly of the PTI for voting Shahbaz in the election against the orders of the party leadership.
Later the ECP allocated five reserved seats to the PTI and announced by-elections on the remaining 20 seats on July 17. The PTI won 15 seats while PML-N got four seats and an independent candidate also won the election.
( With inputs from ANI )
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