Omar Sarfaraz Cheema was denotified as Punjab governor on Tuesday, hours after President Alvi refused to approve Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s summary to remove Omar Cheema from his post.
The latest development occurred on Monday when President Arif Alvi rejected Prime Minister Shehbaz’s advice to remove Governor Punjab Cheema from office.
President Alvi has informed the Prime Minister that the Punjab governor cannot be removed without his approval, according to a statement issued by the President’s Secretariat. In contrast to the President’s rejection of the PM’s advice, the cabinet division issued a notification late Monday night removing Omar Cheema as governor of Punjab.
“In accordance with Article 101 and the proviso to Article 48 (1) of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s constitution, read with serial No. 2D of Schedule V-B to the Rules of Business, 1973, and the Prime Minister’s advice (s) rendered on 17-04-2022 and 01-05-2022 for removal of Governor of Punjab, Mr. Omer Sarfaraz Cheema ceases to hold the office of Governor of Punjab, with immediate effect,” the notification stated.
According to the notification, the speaker of the Punjab assembly will now serve as acting governor of Punjab until the new governor is appointed. Security has also been removed from Omar Cheema following his removal from the governorship, according to sources.
The President rejects the Prime Minister’s recommendation to remove the governor of Punjab.
Since being appointed by Imran Khan during his final days in power, incumbent Governor Cheema has been causing problems for the PML-N in Punjab. The governor sparked a constitutional crisis when he refused to administer the oath of office to Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz.
After the Lahore High Court ordered NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to administer the oath, Hamza was finally sworn in.
Cheema said last week that if he was given “a subedar and four soldiers,” he would arrest Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz Sharif. He also asked Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa to play his “role” in the implementation of the Constitutional framework in Punjab.
Punjab Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman has been appointed by the government. Baligh-ur-Rehman has been appointed as the new governor of Punjab by the federal government.
Rehman, from Bhawalpur, was elected from the NA-185 district in 2008 and 2013. When Nawaz Sharif became prime minister following the PML-victory N’s in the 2013 elections, he was the state minister for education, interior, and narcotics control.
