Sarwar takes oath as Punjab governor

He is a former senator and former member of the British parliament

LAHORE: Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar was sworn in as the 37th Governor of Punjab during a solemn ceremony held at the Governor House on Wednesday.

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Yawar Ali administered the oath to Sarwar. Earlier, Punjab Chief Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani read out the presidential notification of the appointment.

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, members of the provincial cabinet, representatives from the armed and civil services and Inspector General Police Syed Kaleem Imam also attended the event.

Sarwar is a former senator and former Member of British Parliament who served as Governor of Punjab from August 2, 2013 till his resignation on January 29, 2015. He had previously served as a member of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom.

He is a successful businessman, philanthropist, and politician. He was born in Faisalabad and moved to Scotland in the mid 70’s to join his wife Perveen.



The couple has four children. After arriving in Scotland, he became successful in the Scottish wholesale sector and then ventured into politics, becoming Britain’s first Muslim MP and Scotland’s first ethnic minority MP.

He renounced his UK citizenship in August 2013 following the confirmation for a largely ceremonial position of governorship representing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Sarwar resigned from the position on January 29, 2015, days after criticising the government’s foreign policy. He announced his defection to PTI on February 10, 2015. On March 3, 2018, he was elected as a member of Senate from Punjab, but resigned on September 4 after casting his vote for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) nominated presidential candidate Dr Arif Alvi.

Buzdar congratulated Sarwar on becoming the governor of the province and expressed his best wishes. He said Sarwar will use this office for public welfare and his becoming of the governor is a good change. “We will jointly serve the masses and transform this country into a new Pakistan.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2018.