LAHORE: PTI-backed PML-Q’s candidate Pervaiz Elahi filed a petition in Supreme Court registry in the wee hours of Saturday morning, challenging Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari’s ruling through which the latter had declared PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz Sharif the winner in the runoff election of Punjab chief minister.
Earlier, talking outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s Lahore Branch Registry office, PTI Central Punjab President Dr Yasmin Rashid said that the Punjab mandate was stolen tonight and a grave injustice was committed. She added that the whole process of the Punjab Chief Minister’s election was against the ruling of the superior court and thus a ‘contempt of court’ was committed.
“We were standing outside the doors of the Supreme Court and know it should have opened for us to file a petition. I urge the court to accept our petition and listen to our pleas. The elected legislators have gathered outside the court to get justice,” she added.
The PTI Central Punjab President further said that injustice committed in the Punjab Assembly will lead to anarchy in the country; “the people in Lahore and in other parts of Punjab have come out on to the streets to protest against the theft of their mandate”.
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“Before the situation goes out of control, I urged the court to open the doors immediately and resolve our matter,” she added. Meanwhile, unknown suspects on Friday opened fire near the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) protest at the Liberty Chowk area of Lahore.
According to details, unknown armed suspects, travelling in a white vehicle, opened fire near the PTI’s protest and fled. The aerial firing spread panic among the protesters.
On the call of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, a large number of PTI supporters gathered at Liberty Chowk to demonstrate against Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari’s ruling on the Punjab Chief Minister election.
The roads leading to the chowk were blocked by the protestors demanding justice. They raised slogans against the people they believed stole their mandate.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022