Pakistan premier's son retains chief minister position in Punjab province

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - In a shock win on Friday, Hamza Shahbaz, son of Pakistan's prime minister, retained his position as chief minister of Punjab, the most populous province of the country.

In the vote held in the Punjab Assembly, the provincial legislature, the joint opposition candidate Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi secured 186 votes, while Hamza Shahbaz obtained 178 votes.

However, deputy speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari rejected 10 votes of lawmakers from the Pakistan Muslim League - Quaid (PML-Q) party, part of the joint opposition, saying the party's leader Chaudhry Shujaat announced his support for Hamza Shahbaz in private letter written to him.

The deputy speaker read out the letter in the assembly.

"As party head of Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid), I have issued directions to all my provincial members to cast their votes in favor of Muhammad Hamza Shahbaz Sharif," Mazari quoted him as saying.

Friday's vote followed by-elections on 25 seats in Punjab. The main opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan, who was ousted as prime minister through a no-confidence vote held earlier this year, won 15 seats -- securing a majority in the provincial assembly.

Following his ouster, Khan launched an aggressive but popular anti-US campaign which helped his candidates pull off a surprise victory. Washington has repeatedly denied Khan's allegations.

PTI has vowed to knock the Supreme Court's door for justice, Asad Umar, a top party leader, said on Twitter.

The volatile political situation is likely to create further uncertainty in the markets as dollar closed 228 against the Pakistani rupee in interbank on Friday and the country has yet to hear from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package.