Hamza Shahbaz sworn in as Chief Minister of Punjab, the country’s most populous province with 110 million people
Hamza Shahbaz sworn in as Chief Minister of Punjab, the country’s most populous province with 110 million people
Amid last-minute drama, Pakistan’s new son Hamza Shahbaz Prime Minister Shahbaz SharifOn Saturday, he took oath as the chief minister of Punjab, the country’s most populous province with 110 million people.
National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf administered the oath of office to 47-year-old Hamza at the Governor’s House in Lahore.
Earlier in the morning, Governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema rejected the resignation of outgoing Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and reinstated his cabinet. He also declared Hamza’s election constitutionally invalid.
Governor Cheema also lodged a strong protest with her security personnel over the Punjab Police taking charge of the Governor’s House to ensure smooth swearing-in ceremony of Hamza.
As the ceremony was underway, Governor Cheema urged the Chief Justice to take notice of the police occupying the Governor’s House.
“The oath of a fake Chief Minister has been pretended to be unconstitutional and the Chief Justice should look into it,” he said, adding that he would also write to President Arif Alvi on the issue.
Soon after the swearing-in ceremony, the Punjab Chief Secretary informed that Hamza had assumed the charge of the Chief Minister’s Office.
On Friday, the Lahore High Court asked the Speaker of the National Assembly to administer oath to Hamza. Earlier, the court had ordered Governor Cheema to administer the oath, but he refused, calling Hamza’s election unconstitutional.
Hamza was elected Punjab chief minister on April 16 during the violence-hit assembly session in which Speaker Pervez Elahi and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MP Asiya Amjad were injured.
The PTI-led coalition had boycotted the election after 26 of its MPs joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and voted for Hamza.
Hamza’s father and Prime Minister Shahbaz served as chief minister of Punjab, a province of 110 million people, three times.
Hamza, who served 20 months in prison for money laundering and disproportionate income in the previous Imran Khan government, has become the chief minister of the province for the first time.
He is facing another ₹14 billion corruption case set up by the Federal Investigation Agency, and is out on pre-arrest bail in the case until May 14.
A senior leader of the ruling PML-N said PTI That Shahbaz will be the de facto Chief Minister of Punjab.
He said, “Shahbaz had effectively run the affairs of Punjab during his three terms. Now he will take a shot in Punjab as his son will only help him.”