Punjab Governor rejected Usman Buzdar resignation

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LAHORE: Punjab Governor Omer Sarfraz Cheema has rejected the resignation of Usman Buzdar who had stepped down as the provincial chief executive on March 28 on Saturday, declaring that it was "not constitutionally valid".

The development comes just hours before Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz is set to take oath as Buzdar's successor at a ceremony at Governor House at 10.30am. Last evening, the Lahore High Court directed the National Assembly Speaker to administer the oath.

The governor, who has been refusing to administer the oath to Hamza despite court directives to perform the duty, informed Punjab Assembly Speaker Pavez Elahi of his decision in a letter.

In the letter, Cheema wrote that in light of "the recent developments and ensuing constitutional crisis, I feel that it would be unbecoming of Governor's office unless I bring to your notice the true and correct facts relating to the alleged resignaiton of Chief Minister Mr Sardar Usman Ahmed Khan Buzdar".

Elaborating on the "saga" that unfolded after Buzdar submitted his resignation on March 28, Cheema pointed out that the "communication which was styled as the resignation" was a printed letter addressed to the prime minister.

He maintained that under Article 130 (8) of the Constitution, the communication could not be treated as a letter of resignation as the said provision mandated that in order for a resignation letter to be valid, it had to be handwritten and addressed to the governor.

Cheema said it seemed Buzdar was not advised properly on the matter or there may be some other reasons for these errors "best know to him" (Buzdar).

He regretted that Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, who was the Punjab governor when Buzdar had submitted his resignation, had not taken into consideration the implications of Article 130 (8).

"This is despite the fact that the mentioned gentleman in public gathering/press conference acknowledged these constitutional deficiencies as detailed hereinabove," Cheema highlighted, adding that Buzdar's communication was "erroneously treated" by Sarwar as a resignation.

Cheema said after replacing Sarwar as the governor, he had sought the advice of the advocate general of Punjab on Buzdar's resignation.

He added that the advocate general had written a letter to him on April 18, expressing an opinion that was "startling".

"According to him (advocate general), Mr Buzdar's resignation which was treated as a resignation and notified accordingly was utterly unconstitutional".

Cheema said in the advocate general's opinion, the resignation was in violation of Article 130 (8). Moreover, Cheema continued, "the discussion inter se further highlighted that the subsequent notification were invalid in law because the very resignation and acceptance thereof was in violation to law".

Cheema recalled that he had communicated these details to President Arif Alvi via a letter forwarded to the latter on April 23.

In this connection, he added that "issues relating to the disputed election between the rival candidates to the office of the chief minister was highly embarrassing and in violation to the Constitution as well as the Rules of the Assembly".

Cheema said this, too, was communicated to the president.

He further referred to the Lahore High Court's (LHC's) orders on the matter, saying that the LHC had directed now directed National Assembly Speaker Raja Parvez Ashraf to administer the oath to Hamza, whose election "was marred by chaos, turmoil and is utterly doubtful".

"The mode and manner in which it has been conducted has already been commented upon by the secretary of the Punjab Assembly and opined by the AG Punjab to be unconstitutional," Cheema said.

He went on to say that the "entire developments and the discharge of constitutional work of my office has been put in disruption".

"The insistence through judicial orders to sanctify these unlawful activities in the form of administering an oath to Mr Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, in the context of above-mentioned facts, is highly unfortunate and not as per the constitutional mandate."

Cheema said he had been advised by "well-wishers to be circumspect and be cautious in this entire gamut".

"However, I have decided not to shun away from my constitutional role as history will judge me for the steps, I intend to take during my tenure for upholding the law and the Constitution," he added.

He said his stance was that Buzdar's resigantion was "not constitutionally valid, [and] all consequent steps taken thereupon including the notification of my predecessor notifying his resignation as such is invalid in law. The same are not endorsed by my office nor do I accept them as valid".

He asked the PA speaker to take up the matter and act according to the provisions of the Constitution as deemed approprate by him.

Former Punjab education minister Murad Raas confirmed the development in a tweet earlier, saying that Cheema had restored Buzdar's cabinet and a meeting of the provincial cabinet had been called subsequently.

Later, Buzdar reached the Punjab Assembly and spoke to the media, confirming the rejection of his resignation.

He said he, too, had received a copy of Cheema's letter to the PA speaker and that it would be discussed in the cabinet meeting called today.

Buzdar refused to comment any further on the matter, saying that he would consult his legal team and the cabinet.

Following that, he chaired the cabinet meeting at the Punjab Assembly.

After Buzdar, PML-N leader Ataullah Tarar also spoke to the media about today's developments.

"We are glad they have done this," he said, adding that the governor's moves of today would be added to the "charge sheet" of the case that "we are preparing to file under Article 6" — which pertains to high treason against PTI leaders.

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