Pakistan: Punjab new CM to take oath today

Lahore [Pakistan], April 30 (ANI): Pakistan's Punjab province Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz is finally set to take the oath on Saturday after the Lahore High Court directed the National Assembly Speaker to administer the oath-ceremony following the continuous delay, local media reported.
Yesterday, Lahore High Court Justice Jawad Hassan, who passed the order on a third petition of the Hamza Shehbaz seeking implementation of the two previous court orders on his petitions, directed the National Assembly Speaker to administer the oath-ceremony on Saturday, Dawn newspaper reported.
In the Lahore High Court order, Justice Hassab observed that President Arif Alvi and Punjab Governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema had deliberately ignored the court's decision. He further said, "The governor through his conduct has also made himself 'impracticable' for the oath to be made before him."
In the late-night development, Punjab Government announced that the oath-taking ceremony would start on Saturday at 10:30 am at Governor House.
In the April 22 order, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Mohammad Ameer Bhatti had directed the President to nominate any person in terms of Article 104 of the Constitution to administer the oath, but the President failed to comply with the order.
After President, Chief Justice on Wednesday advised Punjab Governor Cheema to ensure the administration of the oath of the newly elected Chief Minister either himself or through his nominee but even that order was also not followed, reported Dawn.
Meanwhile, Punjab Assembly Speaker and Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) leader Pervaiz Elahi Chaudhry said they would challenge the Lahore High Court's decision.
Speaking at a Pakistani news programme, Chaudhry said that there was no election held in the assembly to elect Hamza Shehbaz as the new CM, therefore they went to courts to seek justice. He further added that the President and Punjab's Governor are also working under the Constitution, as reported by Dawn.
"If the courts open in the morning then our lawyers will go and appear before the court," he said, adding "the decision will be challenged tomorrow."
Chaudhry, who like the other candidate for CM had boycotted the election, said that President, Governor Punjab will take action and it is not possible to make a unilateral decision.
Hamza Shahbaz was elected as the new chief minister with 197 votes on April 16 and a day later he was scheduled to take the oath but Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema "postponed" the oath-taking ceremony as he ruled his election controversial due to the ruckus that took place in the Assembly. (ANI)