Will arrest ’illegal’ CM Hamza if COAS provides 4 soldiers: Governor Punjab 

LAHORE, May 05 (SABAH): Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema claimed on Thursday that if Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa provided him with one subedar and four jawans, he would arrest recently sworn-in Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz, who he termed “illegal, unconstitutional and counterfeit”, and throw him in jail.

In a series of early morning tweets, he said that the province, which was facing a constitutional and legal crisis, had been “taken hostage by force” and termed the political parties’ silence “very concerning”.

If everyone had accepted the Hamza Shehbaz “formula” for becoming the chief minister in Punjab, the other provinces should start worrying for themselves, he added.

In a follow-up tweet, he said that if those who had “torn up the Constitution and the law by force” were protected, then anyone could take over a constitutional office in the same way in the future.

Cheema said he had always demanded a “neutral umpire” in his 26-year-long political career. He elaborated that a “neutral umpire” maintained the same rules for both sides, otherwise, he could not be called “neutral” and the game would not be fair.

“I have clarified in my statement what kind of intervention I expect and what is needed. I would have appealed to the public if I wasn’t the governor.

“Political parties have always demanded the [army’s] 111 Brigade in the past. I have asked to at least provide me with four jawans and one subedar,” he tweeted.

The crisis in Punjab had begun when Governor Cheema on April 17, a day after the election of the chief minister in a stormy session of the Punjab Assembly that descended into downright violence, refused to administer oath to Chief Minister-elect Hamza, stating the assembly secretary’s report, Lahore High Court’s (LHC) instructions and facts presented to him raised objections on the validity of the election.

In the election, scores of PTI MPAs were injured, as well as assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi — one of the two candidates for the chief ministership. Hamza had bagged 197 votes, including 26 from PTI dissidents, while Elahi did not get any as the PTI and PML-Q lawmakers felt they were not allowed to vote.