The election of Pakistan's Punjab province is scheduled to take place on February 26. Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is getting ready to be elected as the first woman chief minister of Punjab province on Monday, news agency PTI reported. The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party has secured both the speaker and deputy speaker positions in the Punjab Assembly.
"The election of Chief Minister Punjab will take place on Monday (tomorrow). The candidates of CM can submit nomination papers on Sunday (today)," Punjab Assembly Secretary Amer Habib said in a statement on Sunday.
The election for the Chief Minister office will be held between PML-N's Maryam Nawaz and Imran Khan's PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) nominee Rana Aftab Ahmad. Since PML-N and its allies have a clear majority in the House there are no obstacles for Maryam to secure the top position, PTI reported.
PML-N leader Malik Ahmad Khan on Saturday was elected as the custodian of the house by lawmakers through a secret ballot during a marathon session of the Punjab Assembly. Zaheer Iqbal Channar of the PML-N was elected as his deputy.
Malik Ahmad Khan, a loyalist of the Sharif family, gained victory by defeating Malik Ahmad Khan Bachhar, who was supported by the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). The PML-N candidates were backed by their allies, Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), PPP, and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP).
Malik Ahmed Khan received 224 votes out of the total 322 cast in the assembly, while Ahmad Bachhar received 96 votes. Additionally, two votes were rejected. Zaheer Iqbal obtained 220 votes, whereas Moin Riaz, representing the SIC/PTI, received 103 votes.
In the session, the SIC, which comprises PTI-aligned lawmakers, alleged that the PML-N had usurped its electoral mandate. Notably, the SIC did not secure any seats in the February 8 elections. However, independent candidates backed by the PTI have since joined the SIC as per a recent agreement between the two parties.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has not yet allocated the 24 reserved seats for women and three for minorities. Meanwhile, the PTI has replaced its candidate for Punjab CM with Aslam, formerly known as Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan.
PTI leader and former federal minister Hammad Azhar stated on X: “As the Punjab police are present at the Punjab Assembly to arrest our CM candidate, Aslam Iqbal, the party leadership has decided to nominate Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan for the CM slot. Rana Aftab is the senior member of the PA who in the past got elected PA member five times.”
He added that according to Form 45 (result), the SIC/PTI had 212 lawmakers, whereas the PMLN had only 44 MPAs in the assembly. He emphasized that the current count of PML-N members in the Punjab Assembly was a result of a stolen mandate on February 8, and criticised the PMLN and their supporters as 'mandate thieves'.