LAHORE: A petition was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday seeking early administration of the oath to chief minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz by the Punjab governor.
The petition was filed in the court through Shehbaz’s counsel, Azam Nazeer Tarar, which nominated Governor Omer Sarfraz Cheema and Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal as respondents.
It stated that the resignation of former chief minister Usman Buzdar was accepted on April 1, and his office has been lying vacant ever since.
“It is a constitutional convention for the governor to call the elected chief minister and administer the oath to him. Violation of constitutional conventions is in fact a deviation from the Constitution itself,” read the petition.
The petition was moved days after Governor Cheema announced he would not administer the oath of office to Shahbaz, citing a report submitted by the Punjab Assembly secretary that he claimed had raised questions on the validity of the election process.
“I have written to the Punjab advocate general and the Punjab Assembly speaker to seek their opinion on the assembly secretary’s report, Lahore High Court directions and other facts to make up my mind whether to hold the oath-taking ceremony at the Governor House or not,” he told a press conference on Sunday.
Cheema also accused Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers of violating the law and Constitution and setting the “wrong precedent” by displaying “intolerance” that had made the entire election “controversial.”
He also blamed Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari for displaying “partisan” behavior during the polling and calling “goons” to “torture” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) legislators, including Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
Referring to the events following the election, the petition said “a constitutional crisis is being created which is against the parliamentary democracy and the spirit of the Constitution. The governor’s office is a symbol of federation and unity, and the governor’s job is to protect the Constitution”.
“In the written Constitution, the governor does not have the powers of a King. The governor’s refusal to take oath from the petitioner is a political ploy and bad intention. The offices of the president, assembly speaker and governor are bound to avoid adopting party policies.
“As the oath is not being administered, the petitioner has got no choice but to file a constitutional petition. The governor should be ordered to administer the oath to the newly-elected Chief Minister of Punjab without any delay,” it added.
LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti will mark the petition Wednesday following which it will be listed for hearing.
