LAHORE, Dec 11: Punjab Governor Salman Taseer has described the administration of oath to the new provincial ombudsman and the chairman of the Punjab Services Tribunal (PST) in his absence by the acting governor as illegal and unconstitutional, but stopped short of suggesting measures to undo or counter the clever move made by the PML-N.

“Acting governor cannot make appointments of permanent nature. It amounts to breach of trust,” Mr Salman said of the PML-N government’s surprise move to get its nominees Khalid Mahmood and Jehangir Arshad sworn in by speaker of the provincial assembly and acting governor Rana Mohammad Iqbal Khan, as the new provincial ombudsman and PST chairman, respectively, on the eve of Eidul Azha while the governor was out of the country.

“I know the speaker very well. He does not have the courage to take such action on his own. The speaker was travelling to his native Phoolnagar when he was called back and asked to swear in the two officials at the provincial assembly secretariat,” Mr Taseer said when asked if he considered the controversial move to be the handiwork of the chief minister.

“It is for the first time in the history of Punjab that an acting governor has made an appointment of permanent nature.”

The governor was accompanied by Pakistan People’s Party’s provincial president Rana Aftab Khan and some other party leaders. PPP’s senior minister Raja Riaz and other ministers were conspicuous by their absence, reflecting differences within the party on the uneasy relationship between Mr Taseer and Mr Shahbaz Sharif.

At a press conference held in response to the governor’s address to the media, the chief minister’s adviser, Zulfikar Ali Khosa, said his party considered Raja Riaz, and not the governor, as the representative of the PPP. He also said that the acting governor had only administered oath to the new ombudsman and the PST chairman, who had already been appointed by the provincial government.

Raja Riaz was not available for comment on the controversial appointments.

The governor said: “I’m surprised and worried, and unable to understand the motive behind this kind of action (by the provincial government). It will definitely breach the trust between two coalition partners – the Pakistan Muslim League-N and the Pakistan People’s Party.”

He said he had decided that the chief justice of the Lahore High Court or someone else would now act as his substitute in future in his absence.

Criticising the speaker, the governor said: “We reposed our trust in him (by making him acting governor), but he has proved himself unworthy of this trust. When he was made acting governor for the first time, he tried to move some important documents from my office. But President Asif Zardari was generous enough to ignore this act and insisted that the same policy as pursued in the rest of the country should be adopted in Punjab as well and the speaker should be given the acting charge when the governor was away.”

Asked about his plan to counter the move, he said his legal aides had advised him that the two appointments could be challenged in the court to get them set aside as these had no legal or constitutional basis. But he did not say if he himself planned to move the court to obtain a ruling against the appointments.

“We will take a decision in the next couple of days after seeking President Zardari’s instructions,” he said.

Speaker Rana Iqbal told a private channel that he had done nothing wrong or unconstitutional by swearing in the two new provincial officials while officiating as governor.

Mr Taseer said the ombudsman, who is appointed on the recommendation of the provincial government, couldn’t function without the governor’s blessings. In case of the PST, he said: “If the governor can appoint the chairman, he can also dismiss him.”

In reply to a question, he said he was the first political governor after Feb 18 elections, appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister.

“We are not creating problems for the provincial government. I’m only trying to guide the government whenever and wherever I find something wrong done by it. The action taken by the provincial government (in my absence) has tainted Punjab’s history and it would have far-reaching implications for the coalition.”

The governor had delayed administering oath to Khalid Mahmood as ombudsman on the plea that the office had to be filled in by a PPP nominee under the power-sharing formula agreed upon by the two parties.