The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declared Chaudhry Shujaat as the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) on Tuesday, giving a major setback to Chaudhry Parvez Elahi.
The ECP issued its decision on a plea that Chaudhry Shujaat had filed amid a power struggle with his cousin Parvez Elahi over the party leadership.
Former Punjab chief minister Elahi was responsible for organizing Shujaat’s ouster from his position as party leader.
Shujaat was relieved of his responsibilities as party president by the PML- Q’s Central Working Committee (CWC) in July of last year, claiming health reasons.
The decision was made to dismiss Shujaat from the party’s leadership at a CWC meeting presided over by Senator Kamil Ali Agha.
After the CWC meeting, Kamil Ali Agha spoke to the media and said, “Isolating Ch Shujaat has become vital to save the party from collapse.”
The meeting also agreed to expel Federal Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema from the party. At the same time, the CWC also established an election body to conduct party-internal elections.
However, Shujaat approached the ECP about the issue, and until the petition was resolved, it kept him in that position.
The PML-Q split into two factions over the question of collaborating with the PTI and PML-N.
