RAWALPINDI, Nov 1: The provincial cabinet is legal and does not require fresh oath of office, said Punjab Governor Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool here on Thursday ending the controversy about the legality of the cabinet after the former governor Lt-Gen Mohammad Safdar's resignation.

Talking to journalists during his visit here, he said, "after intense discussions with the legal advisers we have come to the conclusion that the cabinet does not require fresh oath of office."

The government's legal advisers, a close aide to the governor told this scribe, have opined that since the cabinet was appointed under the Provisionl Constitutional Order (PCO) it remained intact and continue to function without fresh oath.

The provincial government, it has been learnt, was deeply divided on the issue and one point of view was in favour of getting fresh oath, while the other insisted that there was no need of it and the cabinet can continue to function legally.

Legal experts in the city when contacted for comments said they were of the conviction that the cabinet could not survive after resignation of the governor and the incoming governor has to announce his cabinet afresh, which would then take new oath of office