Buzdar was asked to return official vehicles while still in office

Special Branch Punjab had requested the vehicles to be returned

LAHORE:

The former chief minister of Punjab, Usman Buzdar, was requested by the government to return the two government vehicles under his use, through a letter that surprisingly was written before he relinquished his seat.

As per the government’s letter – which is circulating on electronic media – Special Branch Punjab had written to Chief Minister Punjab Office, to return their aforesaid vehicles, due to a shortage of vehicles in their office on April 16, 2022.

Given that the vehicles were directly under Buzdar’s use, it suggested that the Additional Inspector General Special Branch had requested the sitting CM of Punjab return the vehicles from his use while he was still in office.

Buzdar resigned from office on March 28 and the governor of Punjab accepted his resignation on April 1, but under Article 133 of the Constitution of Pakistan, Buzdar was allowed to hold office till his successor came into power.

Hamza Shahbaz, however, was sworn in on April 30 and until then Buzdar was the provincial chief minister. However, on April 16, Hamza was declared the chief minister Punjab, after elections that still remain controversial and his oath was administered two weeks later.

This may suggest that when Hamza won the provincial assembly election as chief executive of Punjab, the bureaucracy accepted him as the chief minister, instead of Buzdar who was the lawful CM.

The former governor of Punjab had also complained of the highhandedness of the bureaucracies.

Authorities, led by Chief Secretary Punjab Kamran Afzal and the Inspector-General of Punjab had allegedly barged into the residence and secretariat of the Punjab Governor to organise the oath-taking of Hamza Shahbaz.

The former governor had warned the administration that if the Governor House was not vacated immediately, the chief secretary and IG Punjab would be responsible for the results.

He further asked the chief justice of Pakistan to take immediate notice of the ongoing “bullying” and “hostage-taking” in the Governor House.

The governor had also written that as the governor, he did not allow the appointment of “any unconstitutional fake chief minister” and alleged that an attempt was made to prepare a fake notice to validate the oath-taking ceremony.

An officer in the Special Branch claimed that to their knowledge, the vehicles were under no one’s use and they sought the return of the vehicles due to a shortage of vehicles.

The chief minister's office claimed that the vehicles - a 2016 Toyota Land Cruiser and a 2020 Toyota Corolla - were currently under the use of Usman Buzdar.