Usman Buzdar summons cabinet meeting as constitutional crisis deepens
Constitutional crisis deepened in Punjab as Usman Buzdar summoned cabinet meeting when CM-elect Hamza Shehbaz likely to take oath today.
LAHORE: The constitutional crisis has deepened in Punjab as Usman Buzdar summoned the provincial cabinet meeting when the National Assembly (NA) speaker is expected to administer the oath to Punjab Chief Minister-elect (CM) Hamza Shehbaz today.
Yesterday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to administer the oath to the Punjab CM-elect Hamza Shehbaz on Saturday (today) at 11:30 am after accepting his petition. The verdict was given after the Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema showed reluctance to administer the oath to Hamza Shehbaz owing to a constitutional crisis.
Following the verdict, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced to challenge the verdict on the same day and expressed disagreement over the court order besides terming it a constitution. An intra-court appeal was also filed by the political party against the LHC verdict today.
On the other hand, preparations have been started for the oath administration of Hamza at the Punjab Assembly.
In a response move, Usman Buzdar summoned the provincial cabinet meeting at 9:00 am as the governor thought that Buzdar is still the chief minister of the province
Governor Cheema has rejected Buzdar’s resignation after raising constitutional objections, whereas, he also wrote a letter to the Punjab Assembly’s speaker in which he detailed that Buzdar’s resignation was not complying with the requirements of the sub-section 8 of the Constitution’s Article 130.
Cheema also mentioned that it was also an unconstitutional move for sending the resignation to the prime minister by a chief minister.
The letter states that Usman Bazdar signed the typed resignation while he had to write the resignation by hand. The governor directed the PA speaker to take constitutional steps for Usman Buzdar as the Leader of the House.
Following the letter, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders claimed that Usman Buzdar and his cabinet have been reinstated.
After the meeting, Usman Buzdar’s cabinet will announce the next political strategy.
On the other hand, Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi confirmed that he has received the letter from the Governor of Punjab. The move by Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema has come to light shortly before the oath-taking ceremony of Hamza Shehbaz.
Analysts said that the latest development will further deteriorate the political and constitutional crisis in Punjab as it will be two chief ministers of the province due to technical confusion created by the governor.
