Imran seeks SC’S action after Centre sacks Punjab governor
Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehrik-e-insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to take notice of what he described as a “blatant violation” of the Constitution and law in Punjab ater a late-night federal government notification saw Omar Sarfraz Cheema removed as the province’s governor.
In a statement, Imran demanded the top court to take “immediate notice of the blatant violation of the Constitution and the law in Punjab.”
His statement comes hours ater the federal government issued the notification on the heels of a “strong rejection” of a summary by President Arif Alvi calling for Cheema’s removal from the governor’s office.
“Imported puppets are stirring up constitutional anarchy and chaos in Punjab,” Imran said.
“First, a criminal puppet was imposed on the province as a chief minister through a ghost election. Now, keeping all constitutional requirements aside, the office of the president has been insulted.”
He condemned what he termed as an embarrassing atempt to remove the Punjab governor
EX-PM urges top court to take ‘immediate notice of the blatant violation of the Constitution and the law’ in Punjab; Cheema rejects notification of his removal, terms it ‘unconstitutional’
because of his insistence on protecting the Constitution.
The former premier said that the “blatant violation” of the Constitution in Punjab was being watched in silence, therefore, the Supreme Court must take suo motu notice of the situation, given its sensitivity.
Meanwhile, Cheema rejected the notification for his removal, terming it “unconstitutional.”
In a tweet, he said the president had rejected the summary in light of the “extraordinary” situation, and yet the Cabinet Division’s “unconstitutional” notification was issued.
He added that he was consulting constitutional experts and would soon announce his future course of action.
In the meantime, Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, who has been made the stopgap governor, has refused to assume office saying that an unconstitutional atempt has been made to remove Cheema.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz has recommended removal of Punjab advocate general Ahmed Awais.
Federal cabinet on Tuesday while declaring president’s role unconstitutional said that Alvi mocked the constitution over the issue of Punjab governor.
According to details, a meeting of the federal cabinet was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. During the meeting, the political affairs of the country were reviewed.
Briefing the cabinet, it was said that constitutional positions were used to push the country towards anarchy. The president and the governor of Punjab had insulted the Constitution, law, parliament and democracy and the government used constitutional authority to sack the Punjab governor.
The federal cabinet further said that the country could not tolerate political chaos and that the law would make its way against those who atacked the institutions.
The federal cabinet also rejected the decision to reject the advice of the prime minister by the president on the issue of governor Punjab.
Separately, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf wrote a leter to Imran to appear before him to confirm his resignation from the parliament.
Ashraf held a media briefing and said the procedure of confirmation of the resignation of PTI lawmakers is going on.
He confirmed that he had writen leters to all the PTI members including Imran who have tendered their resignations to appear before him for confirmation of the resignation.
The NA Speaker said that Imran is still a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) so he will also have to confirm his resignation in person. He said leters have been sent to the PTI members.
He further said as per the rules, a resignation must be handwriten by the member of the national assembly.
If the PTI members do not confirm their resignations, he will make his decision according to the law, the NA Speaker added.
About the appointment of the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, he said whoever has more members of the opposition benches will be made the Leader of the Opposition.