Nisar takes oath as MPA

LAHORE: Former interior minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan finally took oath in the Punjab Assembly Wednesday. Deputy Speaker Mir Dost Mazari administered oath to Ch Nisar, who got elected from PP-10 Rawalpindi in July 2018 general elections. Nisar suffered defeat from both the National Assembly seats of Rawalpindi. Nisar has taken oath after two years and 10 months which invited criticism from different political quarters.

Ch Nisar didn’t prefer to sit with Opposition. However, he didn’t address the House and left the assembly premises shortly after taking the oath. Earlier, he reached Punjab Assembly along with a large number of supporters but he did not answer media queries.

He also met the Punjab Assembly Secretary Muhammahd Khan Bhatti at the speaker’s chambers before taking oath. The secretary said he had checked the status of cases of Ch Nisar in the courts and there was no legal impediment in taking oath. Bhatti said Ch Nisar had given him two days to check the status of his cases for which he was grateful.

Ch Nisar, a veteran politician and class fellow of Prime Minister Imran Khan, was first elected MNA in 1985 and continuously returned to the National Assembly for eight terms. He served as minister for petroleum and natural resources in the first and second cabinet of Nawaz Sharif and as interior minister in the third. He also served as opposition leader in the National Assembly from 2008 to 2013. In 2018, he lost election on two seats from Chakri and Taxila to Ghulam Sarwar Khan and his son.

He won the PA seat but didn’t take oath after which petitions were also filed against him in the Lahore High Court seeking his disqualification. However, he took oath after nearly three years. There have also been speculations in the political circles about his future role in the politics of Punjab.