Cheema still holds office as Punjab governor: President Alvi to PM Shehbaz

President Dr Arif Alvi has told Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that Omar Sarfraz Cheema still holds the post of governor of Punjab and there is no reason to appoint someone else.

A tweet by the official handle of the President's House said that Dr Alvi told the PM to "reconsider his advice about the appointment of Governor Punjab as Mr Omar Sarfraz Cheema still holds the office of the Governor and there is no occasion to propose a new appointment."

Cheema had questioned the validity of the resignation of former Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar as well as Hamza being voted in to replace him. The election had been a chaotic one, with a fight breaking out before voting took place, and 25 PTI dissident MPAs voting for Hamza.

Cheema refused to administer an oath to Hamza as CM following which the PM advised President Alvi to remove Cheema from office. Alvi rejected the PM's advice but the Cabinet Division still ordered Cheema's removal.

Cheema challenged his removal as Punjab governor in the Islamabad High Court, stating that PM Shehbaz illegally ousted him to benefit his son Hamza.

President Alvi continues to support Cheema. In his most recent tweet, he said he had highlighted the change in loyalties of the members of the Punjab Assembly during the election of the Chief Minister of Punjab to PM Shehbaz, and told him that "cobbling of the majority by illegal means had generated serious governance issues in the province as well as violated the Article 63-A of the Constitution."

ECP de-seats PTI dissident MPAs who voted for Hamza as Punjab CM

He said Cheema's stance was vindicated by not only the Supreme Court's decision that parliamentarians cannot vote against their party policy but also by the Election Commission of Pakistan's verdict of deseating the 25 PTI lawmakers who had voted for Hamza.