What former governors think about prevailing crisis in Punjab

LAHORE: Former Governor Punjab Rafique Rajwana, while rejecting the stance of Speaker Punjab Assembly said the governor is empowered under Article 130(7) to summon the assembly session.

Talking to The News, former governor Punjab Rafique Rajwana said that the stance taken by Speaker Punjab Assembly that the governor cannot summon the session when the assembly was in the session is not correct. Rajwana, who is also a constitutional expert, asserted that Constitution is supreme and it has to prevail and under the Constitution, governor has the right to summon the assembly session.

He added in the prevailing situation, the governor’s order has to be obeyed and the assembly business could be taken up on some other day. Rajwana, who served as Governor Punjab between 2015-2018 went on to say that the prevailing episode in Punjab was a reminder of the actions of the former Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri’s when he did not respect the court’s order.

Another former governor Punjab requesting anonymity, however, expressed different views and said that when the assembly was in session, fresh session cannot summoned. Talking to The News, he said that Article 130 of the Constitution empowers the governor to summon the session but in the present situation while assembly is already in sitting, new session cannot be called. The assembly has to be prorogued first and then the new session will be summoned, he said.

Former Governor Punjab Chaudhry Sarwar when contacted refused to comment over the prevailing constitutional crisis. Talking to The News from Scotland, he said it was high time for Pakistan’s political leadership to start thinking over and above their narrow personal interests.