PTI leader and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had decided to challenge the election of Hamza Shehbaz as the Punjab chief minister in the Lahore High Court (LHC), accusing him of occupying the top provincial office “illegally”.
Talking to media in Lahore, Fawad said a quo-warranto petition (a plea questioning the authority of a public office holder) will be filed with the LHC on Thursday “and the court will be requested to remove Hamza as the provincial chief executive and order election on the coveted seat at the earliest”.
The PTI leader urged the court to take up the petition and conduct its hearing on a day-to-day basis, saying “we all know that courts are open 24 hours.”
The ex-minister said the speaker of the Punjab Assembly could have issued a notification, but the party decided to adopt a legal way to contest its case.
“Instead of an administrative action, we decided to approach the court and request it to sack the illegal chief minister.” He reiterated the PTI’s demand to the government to hold early elections, insisting that it was the only solution to the current political crisis.
Fawad said the president could also ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to hold a session on the no-trust motion, as the federal government also now allegedly lacked the 172 votes required in the lower house of the parliament to form or retain the government.
