Hours after Pakistan Muslim League (Q) leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi was sworn in as the Punjab Chief Minister, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah threatened to impose Governor's rule in the province, media reports said.
The minister made these remarks on Wednesday following the Supreme Court verdict which declared Hamza Shehbaz's victory in the July 22 Chief Minister's election as void.
During a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Sanaullah said that he has started working on the summary of the governor's rule in Punjab. "If I am banned from entering Punjab, then the implementation of governor's rule will be justified," reported ARY News.
Interior Minister Sanaullah said that there have been talks of arrests of a few people since after the Supreme Court's ruling which unseated PML-N's Hamza Shehbaz from the position of Chief Minister of Punjab province.
If arrests take place, do remember a summary for the imposition of governor's rule in Punjab has to be made by the interior ministry, he added.
The minister said the SC's decision had "created complications and destabilised the political situation" because of which the rupee was tanking and the stock market was falling.
He further stated that the SC's recent verdict contradicted the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision to de-seat 25 dissident PTI lawmakers who had voted for Hamza in the April 16 election.
"It is my opinion that the interpretation of Article 63-A will not sustain. Any lawyer will say it amounts to rewriting the Constitution. It is not the SC's authority to rewrite the Constitution and we will defend the parliament's authority," Sanaullah said.
"This situation is unfortunate and we want to restrict our words [...] An independent, uncontroversial and impartial judiciary is any country's basic need. No country can progress without it."
Meanwhile, PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif urged for early general elections while he discusses with the senior party leadership about quitting the government at the Centre.
In a massive defeat for Hamza Shehbaz after the Punjab bye-elections, the three-member Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice Atta Bandial and Justices Ijaz-ul-Ahsan and Muneeb Akhtar, removed Hamza as Punjab's chief minister.
It has put up a new scenario for the party where it has power in the Centre but Punjab, which is often known as the battleground province for the Sharifs, will now be ruled by Pervaiz Elahi with help from Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Hamza Shehbaz, son of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, had defeated Pervez Elahi in the Punjab polls and Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Mazari had dismissed PML-Q's 10 votes after party head Chaudhry Shujaat urged them to vote in favour of Hamza.
Earlier, the Pakistan Supreme Court had allowed Hamza Shehbaz to stay as a 'trustee' chief minister of Punjab however Tuesday's ruling reversed this.
( With inputs from ANI )
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