Crisis Deepens As Punjab Governor Rejects Buzdar's Resignation

Governor Cheema's decision comes hours before oath taking ceremony of Hamza Shahbaz.

LAHORE: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-April 30th, 2022) Punjab Governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema in a surprise move on Saturday, "rejected" resignation of Usman Buzdar just hours before the oath-taking ceremony of Hamza Shahbaz.

The Punjab governor said that the Constitutional requirements were not met.

On the other hand, Hamza Shahbaz has taken oath as the new Chief Minister of the Punjab. The develpong situation has deepened the crisis as both sides could go to a anarchy.

The development took place after the orders of the Lahore High Court (LHC), directing National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to administer the oath to Hamza Shahbaz today at 11:30am.

In a letter addressed to Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, Omar Sarafraz Cheema said that the March 28 resignation letter of Usman Buzdar was not in accordance with the rules as it was addressed to the prime minister and not to the governor which was mandatory as per sub-section 8 of Article 130 of the Constitution.

He said, "the resignation was not addressed to the governor which was unconstitutional and thus rejected. Consequently, the provincial cabinet has been restored,” Cheema said.

Buzdar had resigned from his office on March 28 and the then Governor Punjab had accepted his resignation.

Later, the PTI decided to nominate PML-Q’s Elahi as Punjab CM in return for the party’s support for a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Meanwhile, Usman Buzdar summoned a meeting of the Punjab Cabinet for which provincial ministers started to arrive at the assembly building.

Talking to a private tv channel, Murad Raas and Mian Aslam Iqbal said that there’s no crisis in the province as Governor Cheema held a constitutional office and he took decision on the matter.

The security was tightened around Punjab Governor House for the oath-taking ceremony of Hamza Shehbaz. All roads leading to the Governor's House were sealed to avoid any untoward situation.

On Friday, Justice Jawad Hassan of the LHC directed NA Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf to administer the oath to Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz Saturday (today) at 11:30am.

The LHC announced the verdict on the third petition of Hamza Shehbaz, who had sought the court's intervention to complete his oath-taking process.

The judgment had stated that both the decisions of this court despite having binding effect have been ignored deliberately. The verdict said that the President and the Punjab governor did not fulfill their constitutional duties.