Parvez Elahi retains Punjab's top post after 'high drama'.

LAHORE -- Chief Minister Parvez Elahi won the much-awaited confidence vote in the Punjab Assembly Wednesday night after lawmakers sitting on the treasury benches entrusted their trust in him, with the opposition boycotting the session in protest after tearing up the agenda copies.

The provincial chief executive took the confidence vote after the Lahore High Court (LHC) ruled that the governor had the authority to ask the chief minister to seek the trust of the house even during an ongoing session.

The court, earlier today, had said that the chief minister should have the support of 186 lawmakers - the required number for being elected as the CM - round the clock.

A total of 186 members of the provincial assembly (MPAs) voted in support of Elahi as the chief minister on a resolution moved by Punjab Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Raja Basharat.

The opposition boycotted the session, claiming that the pre-requisite legal requirements were not met and that Punjab Governor Baligh-Ur-Rehman's order of vote of confidence was sub judice.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah - talking to journalists outside the assembly - said some lawmakers from the treasury benches were not in the country, but still, the PTI claimed that their MPAs attended the session. "Therefore, we will present all their travel records and relevant documents...