President Dr Arif Alvi has asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to reconsider his advice about appointing a new governor of Punjab, as Omar Sarfraz Cheema still holds the office “and there is no occasion to propose a new appointment”, a private TV channel reported. The president referred to his secretariat’s earlier communication dated May 9, and reiterated that “the Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President”, as envisaged by Article 101(2) of the Constitution.”
He added that the present circumstances demanded that the incumbent governor should continue to hold that position.
The president also referenced the Punjab governor’s letter from April 23 as well as a report dated May 4. These highlighted “that the change in loyalties of the PTI members in the Punjab Assembly’s chief minister election, and the cobbling of the majority by illegal means had generated serious governance issues in the province as well as violated the Article 63-A of the Constitution.”
The president further emphasised that the principled stand of the current Punjab governor had been vindicated by the recent pronouncement of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, on Reference No. 1 of 2022, moved by the president of Pakistan. He underscored that the governor’s stance was further augmented by the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which declared the defection and changing of loyalties by the 25 Punjab MPAs in the election for Punjab chief as the “worst form of betraying the electorate and party’s policy”. He added that the 25 defecting MPAs had ceased to be members of the Punjab Assembly, as per ECP’s decision.
In view of the courts’ decisions, President Alvi asked the premier to reconsider his advice about the appointment of a new Punjab governor in accordance with Article 48(1) of the Constitution. A day earlier, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed the Registrar Office’s objections in the petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Omar Sarfraz Cheema against his removal as Punjab governor. The high court constituted a larger bench which will be presided over by Chief Justice Athar Minallah.
