SIC abstains from the Punjab Assembly session as the chief minister election gets underway.

Monday’s Punjab Assembly chief ministerial session was marred by controversy when opposition Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) members abstained from the proceedings.

Speaker of the Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmad Khan, a recent election, was presiding over the 11:30 a.m. session.

Speaker Khan said at the beginning of the meeting that there would only be elections for the position of chief minister and that no legislator would be permitted to speak.

The speaker appointed a committee, consisting of Khawaja Salman Rafique, Salman Nazeer, Samiullah, and Khalil Tahir Sindhu, to persuade the lawmakers to come back to the Assembly as the SIC MPAs left.

PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif is the party’s nominee for chief minister, running against Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) candidate Rana Aftab Ahmed, while Murad Ali Shah of the PPP will take on Ali Khurshidi of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) in Sindh.

After the province police attempted to detain PTI’s previous nominee, Mian Aslam Iqbal, for the position, PTI abruptly announced Rana Aftab Ahmed Khan as their replacement.

Numbers-based game

Notably, the PML-N has a sizable field of candidates, which heightens the election’s competitiveness. 321 out of 371 members of the Punjab Assembly took the oath of office on Friday at the event.