 "Pak leaders criticise judiciary over handling of Punjab CM re-election case")
Top leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition on Monday expressed distrust in the Supreme Court's handling of a case related to the election of the chief minister in Punjab province, saying "bench-fixing" is a crime similar to "match-fixing," and urged it to avoid constituting a "specific anti-PML-N bench" for taking one-sided decisions.
The coalition government leaders, including the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl ur Rehman and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah addressed a joint press conference ahead of the significant Supreme Court hearing on Hamza Shehbaz's re-election as the chief minister of Punjab province.
"Institutions are insulted from within, not outside. One wrong decision blows up an entire case. Criticism isn't needed where the right decisions are taken," Maryam, the daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and PML-N supremo, said.
The PML-N vice president pointed out that there were many respected judges appointed to the apex court and questioned why they were not involved in hearing the PML-N's cases.
One or two judges, who have always been anti-PML-N and anti-government, are repeatedly included in the bench, she said, adding that bench-fixing is a crime just like match-fixing.
The PML-N leader asked for the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of this issue.
Hamza, the son of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on Saturday took oath as the Chief Minister of the Punjab province after he was re-elected to the post by just three votes amidst high drama when Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari rejected 10 crucial votes of his rival candidate Chaudhry Parvez Elahi.
In the 368-member Punjab Assembly, Hamza's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) received 179 votes, while Elahi's party garnered 176 votes.
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