Major reshuffle in Punjab bureaucracy on the cards

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz Saturday summoned meeting of provincial bureaucracy soon after taking oath at Governor House, ARY NEWS reported.

According to sources, a major reshuffle in the bureaucracy would be witnessed after Hamza Shahbaz takes over charge of the provincial government. “Advocate General Punjab Ahmed Awais is likely to be replaced,” they said.

Following Lahore High Court (LHC) orders, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday sworn in as the 21st Chief Minister of Punjab at a ceremony held at the Governor House.

Hamza Shahbaz Sharif was administered the oath by National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Asharaf on LHC order after Punjab Governor Omar Cheema turned down the court’s suggestion and refused to administer the oath.

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif and federal ministers including Rana Sanaullah, Musaddiq Malik, Azam Nazeer Tarar and others.

The chaos and court’s intervention 

Hamza Shahbaz was elected as Punjab CM after he secured 197 votes following a chaotic session at the provincial assembly that saw Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari attacked and PML-Q leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi get injured.

Hamza garnered 197 votes to beat Elahi — his rival, whose party PML-Q and ally PTI boycotted the election held on April 16.

On April 17, the Punjab governor cancelled the oath-taking ceremony due to the ruckus that took place in the assembly a day earlier during the CM election.

Read More: HAMZA SHAHBAZ’S OATH: PTI FILES INTRA-COURT APPEAL AGAINST LHC DECISION

The Chief Minister Punjab-elect Hamza Shahbaz then approached Lahore High Court (LHC) back to back three times after Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema refused to administer oath to him citing several reasons.

Chief Justice Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti had directed Governor Punjab Omar Sarfraz Cheema to either administer oath to the Chief Minister Punjab-elect Hamza Shahbaz or appoint anyone for it.

The chief justice while announcing a reserved verdict over delay in oath taking of the newly elected chief minister directed the governor of Punjab to hold oath-taking ceremony by April 28.

Governor Punjab again refused to administer the oath and PML-N filed a third petition in LHC on Friday.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) yesterday announced its verdict on Hamza Shahbaz’s petition and directed the National Assembly (NA) Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to administer the oath to the Punjab Chief Minister-elect.

The high court ordered the NA speaker to administer the oath to the Punjab CM-elect Hamza Shahbaz on Saturday at 11:30 am.