President Arif Alvi categorically rejected the advice of the Prime Minister to remove the Governor of Punjab

President Dr Arif Alvi categorically rejected the advice of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif for the removal of Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Ch...

President Dr Arif Alvi categorically rejected the advice of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif for the removal of Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema.

 

A statement from the Presidency said that President Dr Arif Ali had informed the Prime Minister of Pakistan that the Governor of Punjab could not be removed without his approval.

 

Read also: Decision to suspend formation of provincial cabinet till removal of Governor Punjab

Referring to Article 101 (3) of the Constitution, he said that the Governor should continue his services in support of the President.

The President wrote that the Governor of Punjab could not be sacked as he has not been charged with any violation of rules, punishment by any court or any action against the Constitution of Pakistan.

He said that as the head of state it was his responsibility to represent the unity of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan under Article 41 of the Constitution.

Highlighting the constitutional role of the Governor of Punjab, the President said that the Governor had earlier sent a report to the Punjab Assembly regarding the unfortunate incident.

He said that there were questions regarding resignation of Punjab ex Chief Minister Usman Bazdar and change of allegiances.

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Rejecting the Prime Minister proposal, the President said that he believed that removal of the Governor was inappropriate and against the requirements of justice.

He emphasized that in order to promote and promote a healthy and transparent democracy, it was necessary for the incumbent governor to be present where members would not be subjected to coercive or illegal change and Article 63A of the Constitution explicitly discouraged such activities. does.

The President further said that he was determined to abide by the Constitution of Pakistan in these difficult times and was totally rejecting the proposal of the Prime Minister to remove the Governor of Punjab.

Earlier, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had said that the President was bound to follow the proposal of the Prime Minister and denying it would be unconstitutional.

He had said that in a parliamentary democracy the presidency is a symbolic office and does not have veto power.

He said that the Presidency is not the secretariat of PTI and should abide by the constitution instead of becoming a slave of Imran Khan.

It may be recalled that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif had sent a summary of the removal of Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema to President Arif Alvi on April 16.

Read also: Governor Punjab postpones swearing in of newly elected Chief Minister

After the swearing in of PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz as the Chief Minister of Punjab, it was decided to postpone the formation of the new provincial cabinet till the removal of the incumbent Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema.

A PML-N leader had argued that his party wanted to take the issue of swearing in of Punjab's new cabinet to court like Hamza and that it would take 10 days or so for the ruling coalition to take over as its governor. Can wait longer than

According to the constitution, the president can suspend a summary sent by the prime minister for up to 14 days without a decision. can.

However, after another 10 days, the governor will be removed and the prime minister will have the power to appoint a new governor.

The ruling party leader had clarified that Omar Sarfraz Cheema would no longer hold the post of governor in the second week of May, after which the new Punjab cabinet would be sworn in.