LAHORE, Aug 30: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said on Saturday that the provincial governor should be removed immediately as he was a “jiyala” (a PPP worker) who, in violation of the Constitution, had converted the Governor’s House into the election office of Asif Ali Zardari.
He said while talking to Dawn that the governor was not supposed to be involved in the kind of political activities he was carrying out these days, and advised him to abide by the Constitution.
In case the governor did not change his attitude, the PML-N would move a resolution against him in the Punjab Assembly, the minister warned.
He said the governor was raising PPP slogans, which was insult to the very office he was holding. “The incumbent governor should not have been inducted into this office at all.”
Rana Sana said the provincial government would restore the divisional commissioners at all costs in the light of a decision taken by the chief minister.
As for press reports that the governor was opposed to the plan, the minister said under the Constitution the governor could not reverse any decision taken by the provincial government. The governor, he argued, was bound to act according to the advice of the chief minister and the cabinet.
He said the government wanted the governor to issue an ordinance for the revival of the commissioner's office. If he didn't, he said, the Punjab Assembly would pass a legislation to implement the decision.
The minister said even if the governor had reservations about any decision taken by the government and was not willing to sign it into law, he could only refer the matter for reconsideration within a timeline set by the Constitution. And if the government refused to change its opinion, the governor was bound to assent it.
Rana Sana said the PML-N experience of working with the PPP was “very good and very encouraging”. He said everything was going very smoothly till the PPP leadership deviated from its commitment to restore the deposed judges in accordance with the Murree Declaration.
The judges’ issue alone, he said, had created a deadlock between the two parties.
He said the PML-N wanted to restore the judges in an honourable way. But, he alleged, the PPP did want to bring them back to their posts after disgracing them.