The Election Commission of Pakistan ruled on Tuesday that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain will remain president of the PML-Q.

The commission had reserved its decision regarding a decision by the party’s central working committee to remove Shujaat from the party leadership on August 18 of last year.

The decision said that the CWC’s ruling carried no legal basis and also declared the recently-held intra party election illegal.

The PML-Q had decided to replace Shujaat with his brother Wajahat as the party’s president at a meeting in Lahore. The party had also removed Tariq Bashir Cheema as the general secretary and appointed Kamil Ali Agha in his place.

Chaudhry Shujaat had challenged the party’s decisions in the election commission.

The move against Shujaat had come after a dispute over their alliance with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in the Punjab Assembly. Pervaiz Elahi, who was then hoping to get elected as the province’s chief minister, and Shujaat had issued contradtictory directions to the party’s parliamentary members over who to vote for.

Although, the party had ultimately voted in line with Elahi’s decision after a court decision, the rift continued inside the ranks. The Shujaat and Elahi camps have been seen as increasingly distant, with former president Asaif Zardari even approaching Shujaat for help in no confidence votes in Punjab.