• Cheema to send reference against LHC judge to SJC over decision on Hamza’s oath by NA speaker
• HRCP regrets governor’s letter, law minister terms it ‘unbecoming’

LAHORE: Despite the armed forces repeatedly refusing to be pushed into the country’s perpetual political quagmire, Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema has sought the army’s intervention to lead the province out of the crises plaguing it for months. He has also decided to send a reference against Lahore High Court’s Justice Jawad Hassan to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for an “illegal decision” of asking the National Assembly speaker to administer the oath to the then chief minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz.

On Thursday, the governor wrote a letter to Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, requesting him to play a defining role in the current chaotic times, as he was of the opinion that the constitutional crisis-ridden Punjab has been held hostage.

With the letter, the governor also attached the separate letters he wrote to the presidententer link description here and prime minister — the latter sent just before writing to Gen Bajwa. “Both these letters encompass my real anxiety and dilemmas on the constitutional impasse faced by this country, particularly the province of Punjab,” he wrote.

In his letter to PM Shehbaz Sharif, the Punjab governor accused Hamza of taking advantage of being the son of the premier in getting himself elected as the CM. He accused the Punjab bureaucracy of extending full support during the CM’s election on April 16 to ensure Hamza was elected, and also chided the premier for occupying the highest office through an “unconstitutional exercise”.

Mr Cheema has urged the army chief to help restore the constitutional framework by reposing trust in the people, who are honest, fair and entitled to be trusted in the form of federal and provincial governments of Pakistan.

The governor has already expressed anxiety over his stated stance that the oath administered to Hamza Shehbaz as chief minister, his consequent notification and de-notification of the former chief executive, Usman Buzdar, were illegal.

He alleged that Hamza, using the powers of his father Shehbaz Sharif being the prime minister, had even held Governor House hostage to hold the oath-taking ceremony on April 30. The governor claimed that even he was not allowed to enter the premises that day.

Condemning the supposed desecration of law and the Constitution in a series of tweets, Mr Cheema eventually tweeted, “If the COAS provides me with one subedar and four army jawans, I will personally get the unconstitutional, illegal and fake chief minister (Hamza Shehbaz) arrested and throw him in jail.”

In earlier tweets, he wrote that he had clarified in his statement the kind of intervention he expected and what was needed. “I would have appealed to the public if I was not the governor,” he said.

Mr Cheema, however, added that political parties had always demanded the [intervention of army’s] 111 Brigade in the past. “I have just asked for four jawans and a subedar.”

He further said the province, which was facing a constitutional and legal crisis, had been “taken hostage by force” and called the political parties’ silence “very concerning”. He sounded a word of caution that if all of them had accepted the “Hamza Shehbaz formula” for becoming the chief minister, other provinces should be concerned about themselves.

He also said if those who had “insulted the Constitution and the law by force” were protected then anyone could take over a constitutional office the same way in the future. Mr Cheema said he had always demanded a “neutral umpire” in his 26-year-long political career, elaborating that a “neutral umpire” ensured a level playing field for all sides, otherwise he could not be called “neutral” and the game would not be fair.

Since the governor is adamant that the Constitution had been defiled in the political events during the entire month of April, on the first day of Eidul Fitr on Tuesday he tweeted that he had sent an Eid gift to the leaders of the ruling coalition. “I have sent the Constitution of Pakistan to the political leaders as an Eid gift who are making foolish statements or expressing their anguish without reading the document.”

Posting tweet after tweet on all three days of Eid, he promised the nation that he would continue fighting the “Sicilian mafia” and soon get the offices vacated by the “illegal and unconstitutional” chief minister in Punjab.