Hamza Shahbaz being considered for Punjab CM slot

[WebGuru]

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who is set to succeed his brother at the Centre in less than two months, is looking towards his son, Hamza Shabaz, as his replacement in Punjab so as to keep the position in the family, but also because he enjoys a degree of comfort in dealing with his son, say Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) insiders.

According to the party insiders, however, the final say on who gets to helm Punjab rests with ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is looking to consolidate the party’s control in Punjab. The PML-N cannot afford to lose its grip on Punjab at this time, especially since the next general elections are barely a year away, says a senior PML-N leader.

“Shahbaz wants his son, who is already acting as the deputy chief minister, to succeed him for the remaining term in Punjab. However, [it is up to] Nawaz Sharif to decide whether Hamza will be the right choice for the post or not,” a senior PML-N legislator from Punjab told Dawn. “Whoever is nominated for the CM post will follow instructions from Shahbaz...but his level of comfort with his son will be higher than with an ‘outsider’. At the same time, Shahbaz wants to give his son the experience he needs to serve at the top level.”

The PML-N leader added that Shahbaz would continue to oversee matters in Punjab indirectly, while his elder brother (Nawaz Sharif) would govern the Centre from his Raiwind residence.

“After installing a new chief minister, Shahbaz’s duties will be doubled — partially looking after the affairs at the Centre, and keeping an eye on matters in Punjab full time. If Hamza manages to get the CM slot in Punjab he will be a strong candidate for this post in the 2018 polls as well,” the leader said.

On Saturday, the deposed prime minister formally announced that Shahbaz would be his successor, while Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will be premier for 45 days till Shahbaz contests the by-election from NA-120 in order to get to the National Assembly.

“But the decision to hand over Punjab to Hamza is not easy for Nawaz Sharif since he may not want to see his younger brother and his son ruling at the Centre and in Punjab...virtually taking over the party at the end of the day,” the PML-N leader said, adding that the selection of Shahbaz’s replacement would be more difficult than at the Centre.

Rumours of Hamza’s political tiffs with the former premier’s family and children abound. He had not openly defended his uncle (Nawaz) in the Panama Papers case, choosing not to comment too much on the issue. Hamza is an MNA from NA-119, Lahore, and if selected for the post of CM, will have to contest the by-election from Raiwind, the seat his father will vacate. Nevertheless, both families have often vehemently denied rumours of any political disagreement.

A provincial minister told Dawn that the names of three of his colleagues — Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, Information Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman and Food Minister Bilal Yasin — were also being considered for the CM slot. “Any of these ministers will get the slot for 45 days if Hamza gets a go-ahead from the party leadership. In case Hamza fails to secure the blessing of the party leadership, one of the three ministers will get the full remaining term,” he said.

The minister added that Rana Sanaullah enjoyed a seamless equation with Shahbaz Sharif as the former was considered one of the CM’s most trusted lieutenants. Nevertheless, there was a chance that the law minister may not be the ultimate choice for the CM slot as the Sharifs need someone “more pliant”.

Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman hails from an influential Arian family of Lahore with strong roots in the PML-N. His father Mian Shujaur Rehman was the lord mayor of the Lahore Metropolitan Corporation and had close relations with the Sharif family.

Bilal Yasin is a relative of Kalsoom Nawaz, wife of Nawaz Sharif, which could be all the credential he needs to be selected for the slot.

Dawn’s request for comments sent to Hamza Shahbaz remained unanswered.



Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1348521

 

[WebGuru]

Shahbaz to take over PM seat and Hamza to bome CM Punjab? What a family limited party!

 

[King-Misbah]

What is this rubbish? If one read this article without knowing much about Pakistan and the fact that it is meant to be a democratic country; s/he would assume that Pakistan is a Kingdom.

 

[WebGuru]

What is this rubbish? If one read this article without knowing much about Pakistan and the fact that it is meant to be a democratic country; s/he would assume that Pakistan is a Kingdom.

and derbari pmln leaders are ok with it after giving decades of their life to the party

 

[Waseem]

I really really hope Hamza becomes Chief Minister, family limited party will expose itself even more and will also give satisfaction to the "democracy is in danger because of accountability" brigade.

 

[TOP SPINNER_01]

Accept the choice of majority.....

 

[WebGuru]

I really really hope Hamza becomes Chief Minister, family limited party will expose itself even more and will also give satisfaction to the "democracy is in danger because of accountability" brigade.

I want Rana Sanaullah to become CM and that decision will hurt them most! Rana is close to both NS and SS so there is a possibility of him being next CM

 

[kingusama92]

Are the Sharifs royalty?

Passing the crown down to their children.

 

[IAJ]

Are the Sharifs royalty?

Passing the crown down to their children.

Sharifs, the Chaudarys, the Bhuttos all are royals...

 

[WebGuru]

Sharifs, the Chaudarys, the Bhuttos all are royals...

And the family of bacha khan... 3 generations in politics all served as the head of party!

 

[IAJ]

And the family of bacha khan... 3 generations in politics all served as the head of party!

And it makes me laugh when these guys talk about saving democracy all the time, at least start with democracy in your own parties. I know people who support these parties, even some of them are getting sick and tired of these dyanasties because they are not letting deserving people to come forward.

 

[WebGuru]

And it makes me laugh when these guys talk about saving democracy all the time, at least start with democracy in your own parties. I know people who support these parties, even some of them are getting sick and tired of these dyanasties because they are not letting deserving people to come forward.

Agree with everything you said. Just imagine a brain like Aitezaz Ehsan after spending 5 decades in PPP is still standing behind and working under a 28 year old (3rd generation of leadership)?

 

[Arham_PakFan]

So the family business continues...

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Corrupt family won't leave Pakistan alone.


Man can't wait for the next elections and hopefully all these corrupt beings and their minions end in jail.

Disgusting stuff.

 

[saeedhk]

Agree with everything you said. Just imagine a brain like Aitezaz Ehsan after spending 5 decades in PPP is still standing behind and working under a 28 year old (3rd generation of leadership)?

Exactly. He is the only people I admire from the PPPP. A highly capable and competent person. He wasted 50 years of his life standing behind a corrupt party.

 

[WebGuru]

Exactly. He is the only people I admire from the PPPP. A highly capable and competent person. He wasted 50 years of his life standing behind a corrupt party.

A top lawyer, a top politician and legislator, a brilliant brain and very few know he topped the CSS exam in both East/West Pakistan back in 60s but denied to join goverment service under a dictator Ayub. But thn what? In the end wasted most of his life standing with a corrupt party and now serving under the 3rd generation of Bhuttos without raising any question.

 

[IAJ]

Agree with everything you said. Just imagine a brain like Aitezaz Ehsan after spending 5 decades in PPP is still standing behind and working under a 28 year old (3rd generation of leadership)?

I don't mind a senior working under a 28 year old if the latter is a deserving elected leader, but the guy can hardly complete a full sentence in urdu and knows nothing about politics, just been pushed into lead the party while his dad is making all the decisions. This neptoism alongside corruption has ruined the country.

 

[MenInG]

ISLAMABAD: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti advised the governor of Punjab on Wednesday to ensure the process of administering the oath, either by himself or through his nominee, to a new Punjab chief minister was completed by April 28.

In his order - announced today after being reserved a day before - Justice Bhatti stated that it was “suggested/advised/proposed” that the governor ensured the completion of the process.

The decision was reserved following detailed arguments on the steps taken by the president or the prime minister to comply with the court's orders.

The court had directed the president to nominate any person to administer the oath to the newly-elected Punjab chief to wrap up the constitutional crises.

CJ Bhatti also suggested that the president of Pakistan play his role as mandated by the Constitution, ensuring a functional provincial government in Punjab, adding that the president was also under constitutional obligation to facilitate the administration of oath to any premier or chief minister in any province.

Justice Bhatti also observed that all the enabling articles of the Constitution suggest the prompt formation of both provincial and federal governments.

“For that matter, expeditious administration of oath either by the president or by the governor or their nominee, as the case may be, is mandatory as all expected reasons/options causing delay are excluded/procured by suggesting/providing an alternate mechanism and I do not find any vacuum or space in the Constitution for causing any delay in the administration of oath required under Constitution”.

He stated that Punjab had been operating without a functional government for the last 25 days since the resignation of former Punjab chief Usman Buzdar was accepted.

He further said that the oath of the newly elected chief minister Hamza Shahbaz was being delayed on one pretext or the other, which was against democratic norms and against the scheme of the Constitution.

During yesterday’s proceedings, Advocate General Punjab (AGP) Awais could not satisfy the court with its queries regarding which law had given the mandate to the governor to analyse the contest on the CM’s slot and to examine its validity, and under which section of the Constitution the largest province had been left without a chief minister and cabinet for the past 26 days.

He made these remarks as the AGP reiterated that the matter was pending before the federation and that the decision will be in accordance with the law, suggesting to avoid a 'haste' in deciding "such sensitive matters".

He also contended that the Constitution allows the governor to examine the contest and that is why he was looking into the 'illegality' committed in the Punjab Assembly. "There is the supremacy of law and we should maintain it," he remarked.

At this, the judge said that he was observing the supremacy of law for 26 days where there was no chief executive of the province and no cabinet in place.

He criticised the office of the president for "sleeping". "It was the court that drew attention towards its [the office's] powers to appoint someone to administer the oath to wrap up the prevailing constitutional crisis," the CJ remarked.

“The president and the governor house threw the court’s orders up in the air; they seemed reluctant to comply with the court’s orders,” he observed.

The CJ then inquired, "Can you quote even a single step which the president took to wrap up the constitutional crisis?"

Read more Third bench recuses from hearing Maryam’s passport plea

In his response, the AGP assured the court that the president was working on it and wasn't sitting idle.

However, the judge said: "One thing is very clear that neither the governor nor the president of Pakistan is willing to comply with the court."

The AGP apprised the court that the prime minister had sent the advice to the president thrice, asking for the court’s order to be complied with in letter and spirit, and that the matter was still pending.

“I gave sufficient time for better sense to prevail, but all in vain,” CJ Bhatti had remarked.

Earlier, the court had directed President Dr Arif Alvi to nominate anyone in his stead to swear in the newly elected Punjab chief Hamza Shahbaz.

After that the PMLN leader knocked the doors of Lahore High Court again, seeking execution of the court’s order. He requested the court to direct the Senate chairperson to administer the oath to wrap up the constitutional crisis.

Express Tribune

 

[MenInG]

Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday, seeking the administration of oath to him by "a person nominated by the court" owing to the "defiant attitude" of President Arif Alvi and the province's governor, Omar Sarfraz Cheema.

This is the third time that Hamza — who was elected as Punjab's chief executive on April 16 during a provincial assembly session marred by mayhem — has sought LHC's intervention over his oath-taking process as the Punjab governor continues to refrain from administering oath to him, questioning the validity of his election, and President Alvi is yet to nominate another individual to perform the duty, as directed by the high court earlier.

In a petition filed on Friday, Hamza contended that the governor and president had proved themselves to be "guided by the whims and fantasies instead of law and Constitution" by refusing to abide by the court's orders on his previous two petitions.

The PML-N leader had first approached the court after Cheema refused to administer oath to him. After hearing the arguments, the court had instructed President Alvi to appoint a representative to administer the oath in the absence of the governor.


However, after further delay by the president, Hamza had moved the court again on April 25. This time, he had asked the LHC to instruct Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to administer oath to him. In his ruling, LHC CJ Ameer Bhatti had directed Governor Cheema to complete Hamza's oath-taking process by April 28.

In the third petition submitted today, the CM-elect said: "No heed has been paid to the direction issued by the Constitutional Court and the Governor and President are harping on the same looney tunes of their purported notions which have already been condemned and deprecated as transgression of constitutional mandate."

The conduct and actions of the governor and the president were "contemptuous and treasonous" as they held in abeyance the constitutional provisions and mandate by unconstitutional means, the petition stated.

"Such blatant contemptuous conduct requires the initiation of proceedings under Article 6 and Article 204 of the Constitution ahead of all other actions."

Hamza also highlighted that Punjab had been functioning without an active government for nearly a month now and pleaded the court to "end the constitutional crisis".

"Article 199(1)(C) empowers this Hon’ble Court to enforce fundamental rights. The Judicial Branch has long been described as the 'Balancing Branch' and our Courts are the balance wheels of our entire constitutional system," he said.

Subsequently, the CM-elect requested that his petition be taken up on the above mentioned grounds in the interest of justice, equity and in order to restore constitutional functioning of the province.

"Kindly direct the administration of oath to the Chief Minister Elect by a person nominated by this Hon’ble Court at the Governor House at a specified time and the coercive arm of the state be set in motion for implementation of the orders of this Hon’ble Court," the petition prayed.

It added that the defiant attitude of Cheema and President Alvi should be declared to be in "utter and blatant violations of the Constitution".

Later in the day, Hamza's petition was fixed for hearing. It would be taken by Justice Faisal Zaman shortly.

Dawn

 

[MenInG]

Just hours before the oath-taking ceremony of CM-elect Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, Punjab Governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema, in a surprise move Saturday, rejected the resignation of Usman Buzdar saying Constitutional requirements were not fulfilled.

The development came after the orders of the Lahore High Court (LHC), directing National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to administer the oath to Hamza Shahbaz today at 11:30am.

Omar Sarafraz Cheema, in his letter to Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, stated that the March 28 resignation letter of Usman Buzdar was not in accordance with the rules as it was addressed to the prime minister and not to the governor which was mandatory as per sub-section 8 of Article 130 of the Constitution.

“The resignation was not addressed to the governor which was unconstitutional and thus rejected. Consequently, the provincial cabinet has been restored,” Cheema stated.

Buzdar had stepped down from his post last month after the PTI decided to nominate PML-Q’s Elahi as Punjab CM in return for the party’s support for a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. Later, the then governor Chauhdry Mohammad Sarwar had accepted Buzdar’s resignation after meeting in-person with Buzdar.

Meanwhile, Usman Buzdar has summoned a meeting of the Punjab Cabinet today for which provincial ministers have started to arrive at the assembly building.

Speaking to Geo News, Murad Raas and Mian Aslam Iqbal said that there’s no crisis in the province as Governor Cheema holds a constitutional office and he has taken a decision on the matter.

Security heightened
Moreover, security was tightened around Punjab Governor House for the oath-taking ceremony of Hamza Shehbaz. Roads leading to the Governor's House were sealed to avoid any untoward situation.

LHC order
On Friday, Justice Jawad Hassan of the LHC, while concluding the third petition of Hamza Shehbaz, directed NA Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf to administer the oath to Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz Saturday (today) at 11:30am.

The LHC announced the verdict on the third petition of Hamza Shehbaz, who had sought the court's directions to complete his oath-taking process.

The judgment had stated that both the decisions of this court despite having binding effect have been ignored deliberately by the President of Pakistan as well as by the Governor of Punjab. The governor through his conduct has also himself made it impracticable for the oath to be made before him.

"Respect for the law is never maintained by force but by the appreciation of the reasons, appreciating its veracity and through obedience. Unfortunately, sometimes, the law falls in crisis due to misunderstanding or lack of vision."

Hamza had filed the petition in the court seeking directions to nominate a person due to the defiant behaviour of the President of Pakistan and Governor of the Punjab province.

GEO

 

[Firebat]

SC permits Hamza Shahbaz, cabinet to hold office till July 22

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) permitted Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz and his cabinet to hold office until the re-election of the provincial chief minister, scheduled for July 22.

The SC issued a detailed order over the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)'s plea challenging the Lahore High Court's (LHC) ruling ordering a re-count of votes polled for the election of Punjab CM held on April 16,

The apex court maintained in its order, penned by Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, that, “Mr. (Hamza) Sharif has undertaken before the court that he and his Cabinet shall exercise the powers and function their offices strictly in fiduciary capacity as envisaged by the Constitution and the law to support the process of bye-election in the province to be conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner by the Election Commission of Pakistan [ECP].”

The court furthered that the commitment to act as trustees of the office, is contingent on fulfilling the duty of care towards citizens of Punjab, “so that they are not deprived of due representation and governance.”

“However, such entrustment shall continue only till 22.07.2022 when a second poll takes place in terms of Article 130(4) of the Constitution," the written order further maintained.

Moreover, the SC directed the LHC to issue a detailed judgment for the order pertaining to the recounting of votes for the election of Punjab chief minister within a week.

The apex court observed that the LHC's order “shall be implemented by the ECP forthwith by issuing the notification of the names of the candidates against reserved seats in accordance with the directions issued by the Lahore High Court.”

The apex court added that in the event of disagreement from any such notification, the individual shall have the right to agitate such grievance before the appropriate forum in accordance with law.

The court maintained that election be held and all legal and procedural formalities be held, within one week from today; as suggested by speaker of the Punjab Assembly Pervaiz Elahi, consented to by Hamza Sharif and Babar Awan the leader of the opposition in the assembly.

The order reiterated that the bye-election against the seats which had become vacant on account of defection of members of PTI shall be held in a free, fair and transparent manner.

“The process shall be completed as per the schedule already announced by the ECP. The final result(s) and notification(s) shall also be issued accordingly,” read the order.

The apex court demanded the ECP and all relevant state functionaries including members of the parliament, provincial assemblies, ministers and advisors to ensure that all parties follow the election laws as well as the code of conduct issued by the ECP.

The SC observed that the law must be followed in its “letter and spirit” and those involved must “refrain from any interference, inducement or influence in the affairs of the executive, the local administration and the ECP or indulge in corrupt and illegal practices."

The apex court also advised parties not to resort to harassment, intimidation or use of law enforcement agencies against opponents and candidates or their supporters, except to restore law and order.

To uphold the spirit of fair and transparent elections, the court order stated no transfers or postings of officials of the local administration, police, Provincial Election Commission shall be undertaken, except in accordance with specific provisions of the Election Act, 2017 and the Code of Conduct to meet emergency situations.

“No fresh development schemes and/or financial allocations shall be made in the constituencies where the bye-election is to be held till finalization of the bye-election,” read the statement, adding that in the event of violation of the provisions, the ECP will take appropriate action in accordance with law.

The written order added that the "speaker and the chief minister had categorically assured that all matters pertaining to the business of the assembly would be handled and dealt with peacefully, impartially and transparently."

The order required parties to maintain a peaceful and “congenial atmosphere” not only during the poll but also in the subsequent assembly meetings.

“We expect that such undertakings and assurances shall be honoured and implemented. It is unreservedly and categorically agreed and undertaken by all parties before us that it is the constitutional, legal and moral responsibility of all political parties.”

The judges “record our appreciation regarding the positive and constructive attitude adopted and the role played not only by the top leadership of three political parties involved in the dispute but also by the respective learned counsel."

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2364335/sc-permits-hamza-shahbaz-cabinet-to-hold-office-till-july-22