ISLAMABAD: Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema’s removal from office has been denied by President Dr Arif Alvi.
It has been reported that President Arif Alvi has stated that the Governor cannot be dismissed from office without the President’s approval.
Punjab’s governor, according to President Alvi, did nothing illegal and so should not be dismissed from office.
He cited Article 101, section 3, clause 3, which states that the Governor serves at the discretion of the President.
He could not be dismissed since there were no allegations of wrongdoing, no convictions by the courts, and no acts performed by him that were antithetical to Pakistan’s Constitution.
The President emphasised the Governor of Punjab’s constitutional role by saying that the governor had also sent a report earlier on the unfortunate events in the Punjab Assembly, and questioned the validity of Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar’s resignation and a change of loyalty.
Because of his convictions about fairness and justice, President Alvi said he opposed the Governor’s dismissal.
The President highlighted that the incumbent Governor should remain in office to support and promote a healthy and orderly democratic system where members are not pressured or purchased to bring about an illegitimate change, and Article 63A of the Constitution explicitly banned such practices.
An earlier warning from Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah stated that President Arif Alvi was bound by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s advice and that departing from it would be unconstitutional. He had told them to abide by the ruling of the court and avoid breaching the Constitution.
According to the interior minister, in a parliamentary democracy, the president’s post is just symbolic, and the president does not have veto power.
Earlier this month the Prime Minister of Pakistan (PPP) sent a letter to the president requesting that Cheema be removed as Governor of Punjab because he has been creating problems for the PML-N party in Punjab and has caused a constitutional crisis by refusing the swearing-in of the new chief minister, Hamza Shehbaz.
