Oath-taking of Punjab CM-elect postponed again

LAHORE: The oath-taking of Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz has been postponed for the second time. It was expected that Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani will take the oath from Hamza Shehbaz at the Governor’s House on Saturday night. Preparations were also made at the Governor’s House but the ceremony was cancelled after the Senate chairman didn’t reach Lahore.

The emergency measures had been taken for the oath-taking on an order of the Lahore High Court. Sources in the Governor's House said that preparations had been made on verbal information from the President’s Office but no written advice was received. After the cancellation of the ceremony, the PMLN has decided to approach the court again.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) Deputy General Secretary Ataullah Tarar has said that Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema would be remembered in history as a violator of the Constitution. "It has been decided to file a contempt of court petition against him," he added. He expressed the views while addressing a press conference at the party's central secretariat along with Owais Leghari, Malik Ahmed Khan, Rana Mashood Ahmed, Khalil Tahir Sindhu and Khawaja Imran Nazir.

Ataullah Tarar said that the largest province in terms of the population had been without a chief minister and cabinet since April 1, 2022. "If the Constitution is violated, then a civilized citizen has no choice but to go to court," he said, adding the Lahore High Court in its judgment had ordered that the oath-taking could not be delayed. "Omar Sarfraz Cheema has disrespected the post of governor. He has been admitted to hospital. The order of the Lahore High Court had been received by the President of Pakistan at 6pm on Friday but despite the passage of the whole day, the President continued to consider it,” he maintained.

Owais Leghari said that the President was bound by the advice of the Prime Minister. “Now the President has written a letter to the Prime Minister's Office asking what we should do in the light of the decision of the Lahore High Court.” He said that everything was stopped for the sake of one person.

Malik Mohammad Ahmad Khan said that Imran Khan was not ready to accept his defeat even after losing the majority. “You have lost the majority due to your policies, corruption, false promises, you used to exploit society and came to power through the backdoor,” he added.

He said Imran Khan had made Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi his candidate who used every tactic of floor-crossing. He said that recognizing the Constitution was a democratic attitude, Imran Khan and his allies were violating it in every aspect. "Dissolving the assembly is a crime, blocking the no-confidence motion is another crime while even worse crimes were committed in Punjab. The deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly was attacked on the voting day," he said.

He said that though the Punjab chief minister had been elected but he was not allowed to take the oath. "How will state machinery run without a cabinet, how will the people be given relief, who is responsible for this? Imran Khan was not fit for the post of Prime Minister and he appointed people who are not qualified for their posts,” he said and maintained that the President should avoid consulting people who had already given wrong advice to important personalities.

“There should be courage to admit defeat. Such characters will be written in black letters in history,” Awais Leghari said and maintained that the President should act in accordance with the Constitution instead of abusing it and following the opinion of his party officials.