President Arif Alvi will “consider” the matter of the oath-taking of Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz after receiving a summary from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office on the issue on Saturday.
Also, a plane sent from Lahore to Islamabad to pick up Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani for Hamza's oath-taking returned empty.
The summary referred to the Lahore High Court ruling on Friday that Punjab Governor Umar Sarfraz Cheema could not refuse to administer oath to Hamza and it expected that President Alvi would decide the matter in terms of Article 104 by nominating any person to administer the oath without further delay.
LHC Chief Justice Mohammad Ameer Bhatti had also expressed the hope that the president would not wait for a letter from Cheema, as the governor had no authority to exercise any other option except to ask the CM-elect under Article 130(5) of the Constitution to assume the office by administering oath.
The president’s secretariat confirmed that it had received the summary.
“The summary received from the Prime Minister’s Office on 23rd April 2022 regarding order of the Lahore High Court passed with W.P. 24320/2022 dated 22nd April 2022, is under consideration of the Honorable President as per the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” a statement issued by the secretariat read.
According to sources, Alvi has consulted former federal information minister Fawad Chaudhry and ex-PM’s adviser on parliamentary affairs Dr Babar Awan on the matter.
The president has yet to nominate the Senate chairman for administering the oath and still taking his time to decide the issue.
He met Sanjrani in Islamabad and discussed the issue of Hamza’s oath-taking besides other matters.
According to sources, CM-elect Hamza had to be sworn in by the Senate chairman on Saturday.
Preparations are under way for the swearing-in ceremony at the Governor's House. The venue has been set up and 600 guests have been invited.
However, after the plane returned without the Senate chairman on board, the PML-N has yet to announce the final time.
The LHC had taken up a petition filed by CM-elect Hamza against the delay by the Punjab governor in administering him the oath. Hamza was elected on April 16 after securing 197 votes in the Punjab Assembly.
Article 104 stipulates that when the governor, by reason of absence from Pakistan or for any other cause, is unable to perform his functions, the provincial speaker or in his absence any other person as the president may nominate shall perform the functions of governor until he returns.
Read LHC directs Alvi to arrange for CM’s oath-taking
Earlier despite being given two opportunities, Advocate General of Punjab Ahmad Awais had failed to satisfy the court whether the governor had addressed the relevant authority in black and white about his inability or the reason why the matter of administration of oath was being delayed.
During the proceedings, the advocate general had raised an objection, arguing that the Punjab Assembly speaker had not been made a respondent in the petition. Further, he had added that in the absence of the governor, usually the speaker administered the oath.
The LHC chief justice, while disagreeing with the advocate general’s viewpoint, had remarked that how could the court assume that the governor would be absent on that day.
The judge had then asked whether or not Cheema had given any reason for not administering the oath, the advocate general replied that the governor believed the chief minister's election was against the law and the Constitution. "The governor is not a rubber stamp or post office. The Punjab governor has taken an oath and he has to abide by the Constitution," he added.
He said he wanted to submit a detailed written response to the court because of the seriousness of the matter.
However, the LHC CJ had remarked: "If it was so important, you would have prepared for your arguments. You just come to court to take dates."
The judge had then dismissed the advocate general's request to adjourn the hearing.
Hamza’s lawyer had requested the court to pass an order, saying that the matter was being delayed on one pretext or the other.
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