Pakistan: Sunni Ittehad Council Avoid Punjab Assembly session

The Punjab Assembly session convened on Monday to elect the Chief Minister took an unexpected turn when members of the opposition Sunni Ittehad Council (comprising of PTI-backed independents) chose to boycott the proceedings, creating a chaotic environment, ARY News reported.

The session, presided over by newly-elected Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan, began at 11:30 a.m. and was strictly focused on the chief ministerial elections, forbidding lawmakers from addressing the session.

Despite protests from members of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), the Punjab Assembly’s Speaker has stated that Monday’s session will proceed.

In reaction to the SIC members’ walkout, Speaker Khan quickly organized a committee comprised of Khawaja Salman Rafique, Salman Nazeer, Samiullah, and Khalil Tahir Sindhu to persuade the legislators to return to the parliament, according to ARY News.

The Sunni Ittehad Council’s Rana Aftab Ahmed and PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif competed for the position of Chief Minister.

Notably, at the last minute, SIC nominated Rana Aftab Ahmed Khan as its candidate in response to the provincial police’s effort to arrest its previous nominee, Mian Aslam Iqbal.

Given its strong majority in the Punjab Assembly, the PML-N increased the intensity of the election by fielding a large number of candidates.

At Friday’s oath-taking ceremony, 321 of 371 members took their oath. The contested nature of the election was reflected in the PML-N’s victory in the Punjab Assembly speaker and deputy speaker elections a day earlier, which solidified the party’s dominance in the house.

Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan was elected PA Speaker with an overwhelming 224 votes out of a total of 327 cast, while Malik Zaheer Ahmed Channer, the PML-N candidate for deputy speaker, defeated Mohammad Moinuddin of the Sunni Ittehad Council with 220 votes, ARY News reported.