LAHORE: Frustrated by the ‘tactics’ of Punjab Governor Omer Sarfraz Cheema, chief minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court on Tuesday (today) requesting it to order that he be administered his oath of office without any further delay.
Hamza Shehbaz filed a petition in the high court and made the Punjab governor as well as the Punjab chief secretary respondents in it. In the petition, Hamza stated that he had been elected as the Punjab chief minister on April 16, during a provincial assembly session held under the LHC’s direction.
The son of Prime Minister reiterated that he had won the simple majority in the contest, after which the Acting Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazai provided copies of the result to the Punjab Governor Omer Sarfraz Cheema to fulfil the requirements of Rule 21 of the Rules of Procedure.
The petitioner maintained that the governor had, however, been reluctant to administer the oath to him as Cheema was following his vested interests.
He contended that it was constitutional that the chief minister elect was administered oath on the same day as his election without any delay, but that it was “unfortunate that we live in the eras of president and governors, who are shelled in their narrow political landscape and have failed to appreciate the grace expected from such esteemed constitutional roles and offices”.
The petition further stated that the chief secretary was a former office-bearer and worker of PTI and that it was unfortunate that he was insistent on creating a constitutional crisis that ridiculed the spirit of constitutional commands and parliamentary democracy, and also exposed the populace to further economic and political turmoil.
He claimed that the position of the president as the head of state and the position of the governor as the head of province was similar to that of the English constitutional monarch, wherein a leader does not and cannot act on his own initiative but must act in accordance with the advice of the prime minister or in the latter case, the chief minister or his cabinet.
It further said that Article 130(5) imposed a mandatory obligation upon the governor in which he had no discretion to act in any manner other than what has been clearly specified. “Any deviation for whatsoever reason that may be would constitute a violation of the clear obligation laid down in Clause (5) of Article 130 of the Constitution.”
On Sunday, Governor Cheema had declined to administer the oath to Hamza on the plea that the Punjab Assembly secretary’s report, the LHC’s instructions and “the facts presented” to him raised questions about the validity of the chief minister’s election.
“I have written to the Punjab advocate general and the Punjab Assembly speaker to seek their opinion on the secretary’s report, LHC’s directives and other facts to make up my mind whether to hold the oath-taking ceremony or not,” the governor told a presser on Sunday.
