Following Hamza Shahbaz's 'surprising' victory, PTI Chairman Imran Khan calls for protests

• Imran Khan addresses public after Hamza defeated Elahi.
• "I was in shock to see incidents that happened in assembly today," Khan adds.
• He says "these are not politicians, they are mafia."

Following PML-N's Hamza Shahbaz's 'surprising' victory in the Punjab Assembly Friday, PTI Chairman Imran Khan asked the masses to take to the streets tonight against the deputy speaker's ruling.  

The PTI chairman was addressing the public after PML-N's candidate Hamza Shahbaz retained the post of Punjab CM against Pervez Elahi in the run-off election held in the Punjab Assembly. Hamza's victory was secured after the deputy speaker rejected PML-Q's 10 votes, citing Article 63(A) of the Constitution.

The PTI chairman told the public that he was "in a state of shock" to see the incidents that unfolded in the Punjab Assembly during the run-off election. 

The former prime minister said that democracy had "meritocracy and transparency" but its foundation was based on "morality".

"Democracy does not have an army. Parliament does not have an army. The army is somewhere else. Parliament has one thing, which is morality," the PTI chairman said.  

Sharing the example of the UK, Khan said that Britain’s democracy works as Boris Johnson had to resign for holding a party during the coronavirus pandemic.

"It wasn’t even news here, he had to resign because of that. Democracy is based on morality," said Imran.   

'Circus'

The PTI chairman reminded Pakistanis of the "circus" that was witnessed at the Sindh House ahead of the vote of no-confidence, saying similar scenes were seen today. 

"Lawmakers were put up for auction in the Sindh House. Asif Zardari has been looting the country for 30 years. All this horse-trading is happening with Sindh’s public money," he added. 

The former prime minister said that after he was removed from office, he mingled with citizens, recalling that his peaceful protest was teargassed and homes were raided. 

"In the by-elections, people turned out like never before. They came out to reject American slavery," Khan highlighted. 

'Buyer of consciences'

"Today was the election of the chief minister and last night the buyer of consciences arrived. We got to know at night that Asif Zardari was playing a game," the PTI leader claimed, adding that he was in "shock" to see what happened in the Punjab Assembly today. 

"These are not politicians, they are mafia, they consider people  sheep and goats. Shujaat's letter alone is not effective, the decision rests with the parliamentary leader. Whatever happened today will further create economic uncertainty," he warned. 

The former prime minister further added that even he had written a letter directing lawmakers to vote for a certain candidate but that was rejected and the parliamentary leader wrote it instead. 

'Nation should protest today'

"The nation should protest today, you have to tell them that we are humans, not cattle. Everyone should register their protest so that they know we are not sheep. They slaughtered the public mandate, and now all eyes are on the courts," he added. 

The former prime minister also stated that PML-Q’s parliamentary leader was not Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as he is the head of the party. 

Khan said that if "small thieves" go to jail and "big robbers" are not caught, then the nation would not progress. He added that his government was first brought down through the use of "stolen money", with the backing of a "foreign conspiracy".

"We will deal with them again and again, they will never let the country progress. As the rupee depreciates, their wealth will increase, their wealth is outside of country in dollars. We will not allow robbers to steal our mandate with stolen money," vowed the PTI chairman. 

Following the call of the party chairman, PTI leaders took to their Twitter handles to invite all supporters and workers to gather near the main arteries of major cities of Pakistan to register their protest. 

PTI to approach SC

Earlier, PTI Secretary Asad Umar took to his Twitter handle to announce that the party will file a petition in the Supreme Court.

'Unconstitutional decision'

PTI’s Central Secretary Information Farrukh Habib said that the party bagged 186 votes in today’s election; however, despite a clear majority, the deputy speaker rejected the 10 votes “unconstitutionally”.

He announced that the PTI supporters and workers will protest against the “unconstitutional decision.”

Sharing a screengrab of the Supreme Court’s decision, former energy minister Hammad Azhar said that if some “educated person” would have read the third para of page five of the written verdict Shujaat and the deputy speaker would have saved their faces.

'Imported govt openly flouted SC decision'

Former human rights minister Shireen Mazari said that once again the constitution and SC decision has been “openly flouted by imported govt [and] its backers”.

“People's mandate stolen by [the] mafia. Seems conspirators want to push Pakistan towards Sri Lankan example,” she wrote on Twitter.