ECP de-seats PTI dissident MPAs who voted for Hamza as Punjab CM

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) deseated dissident Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPAs on Friday (PTI).

In its decision, the ECP stated that the legislators had left the party.

This calls into question Hamza Shehbaz’s election as Punjab chief minister, which he won with 197 votes, including 25 from PTI dissident MPAs/lawmakers who have since been deposed. The joint candidate of the PTI and the PML-Q, Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, received no votes because both parties boycotted the voting session.

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The ruling comes the same week that the Supreme Court (SC) declared that MPs cannot vote against their party’s policies, and that dissident lawmakers’ votes will not be tallied.

The court stated in its decision on the presidential request for an interpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitution, which deals with MPs’ disqualification for defection, that the “article in question cannot be interpreted alone.”

The ECP had reserved its decision until the conclusion of the arguments on Tuesday, stating it would announce it on Wednesday. However, the case was removed off the Election Commission’s cause list for the dais on Wednesday.