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A Pakistan court has directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja to submit their responses on April 29 in connection with a reference to de-seat dissident Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman (PTI) lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday heard the petition which was filed by the party's parliamentary leader in the provincial assembly, Muhammad Sibtain Khan, according to Dawn. Earlier this month, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Hamza Shehbaz won the election for Punjab Chief Minister. Hamza had bagged 197 votes, including 26 from PTI dissidents, while Elahi did not get any as the PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) lawmakers felt they were not allowed to vote. Notably, Punjab Assembly Speaker Elahi sent a reference against the dissident Members of the Parliamentary Assembly to the ECP, urging it to declare them defected from the PTI since they had allegedly violated party discipline. The petition filed in the LHC stated that 25 lawmakers cast their votes in favour of the joint opposition's candidate Hamza Shehbaz in violation of party directions, Dawn said. The ECP had on Monday issued notices to 46 dissident members of the National and Punjab assemblies, asking them to appear before it on April 28 and May 6, respectively. The decision was taken at an ECP meeting during which a letter written to the commission by PTI chairman Imran was deliberated upon, as per the Pakistani publication. (ANI)
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