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The son of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz, took the oath of office as Chief Minister of Punjab province on Saturday. He had previously been re-elected to the position by a narrow margin of three votes amid high drama that sparked nationwide protests and prompted the rival candidate to file a case with the Supreme Court.
The 47-year-old Hamza was sworn in by Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman.
In accordance with the advice of the Pakistani Supreme Court, the run-off election for the position of Punjab Chief Minister was held in the Punjab Assembly on Friday.
Despite the fact that, following significant by-elections held on July 17, Hamza's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party did not hold a majority in the Assembly, he was declared the winner of the election.
By the thinnest of margins, Hamza was able to hold onto the position of Punjab Chief Minister after Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari disqualified 10 votes from the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), a coalition partner of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), to favour his rival candidate Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of Hamza earned 179 votes in the 368-member Punjab Assembly, whereas Mr. Elahi's party received 176.
Elahi's ten votes were discarded under the premise that they had disobeyed Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the leader of their party.
Mazari claimed that party president Hussain's advice to PML-Q members to choose Hamza over Elahi had more weight.The PTI-PMLQ lawmakers objected to the deputy speaker's decision.
Mr. Hamza defeated Mr. Elahi in the race to become Punjab Chief Minister for the second time. His taking of the oath had been postponed for days the last time he had won an election, on April 16, since the governor at the time, Omar Sarfaraz Cheema, had refused to do so.
Following the Lahore High Court's orders, the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf finally gave him the oath on April 30.