The fight between the PTI-PML-Q Punjab government and the coalition in power at the center had been getting worse for days before the Supreme Court decided to cancel Hamza Shehbaz’s controversial election as chief minister.
Now that Chaudhry Parvez Elahi is in charge, But Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah’s recent threat that he would move a summary to put governor’s rule on Punjab if he is not allowed to enter the province seems to be driven more by personal animosity than by political necessity. Ali Amin Gandapur and Maqbool Gujjar, two leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), were among the PTI leaders who were barred from entering Punjab ahead of the by-elections for 20 seats in the Punjab Assembly.
In the end, both leaders were allowed to enter and remain in Punjab despite the ban. PTI leader Fawaz Chaudhry had reportedly threatened to bar the interior minister from entering Pakistan if his party won power again, which may have angered the former Punjab law minister.
According to constitutional scholars and commentators, enacting the governor’s rule is no longer a cakewalk, or at least not as straightforward as it used to be.
Think tank president Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, who works to enhance democracy and democratic institutions, believes that the president can also proclaim his own (basically the prime minister), but it must be ratified by a joint session of parliament. That way, it may be contested in court and overturned in the end.
Because the president must proclaim the prime minister’s recommendation, there will be at least a 10- to 25-day delay in completing this process. Even if he asks for clarification, it could take 10 to 25 days before he gets a response. “So in any situation, it can be delayed but not completely avoided, and during that time the Punjab government can ask the court for a preemptive ruling,” he said in an interview with Dawn.
According to Latif Khosa, the former Punjab governor of the PPP, this notion of governor’s rule is only a “political ploy” because current conditions are not conducive to it. When the Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that Nawaz and Shehbaz Sharif were ineligible to hold public office, the then-PPP government imposed a governor’s rule on Punjab, allowing the late governor Salmaan Taseer to run the province. Later, the Supreme Court overturned the proclamation and reinstated the administration of Shehbaz Sharif in Punjab. Until then, it had only occurred during martial law.”
Mahnur is MS(development Studies)Student at NUST University, completed BS Hons in Eng Literature. Content Writer, Policy analyst, Climate Change specialist, Teacher, HR Recruiter.
