LAHORE–Former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Monday could not take an oath as a member of the Punjab Assembly.
Chaudhry Nisar reached the Punjab Assembly after three years to take the oath for the assembly’s membership but could not do so due to the “absence of the speaker and deputy speaker.”
Speaking to the media as he arrived to take oath as a lawmaker in the Punjab Assembly, he said that the day for his oath-taking was fixed but he was later informed that swearing-in was not possible in the absence of the speaker and deputy speaker of the assembly.
“As you all know, I had won the election on the provincial assembly seat in the 2018 general elections by a lead of 34,000,” said Nisar. “I had decided to take oath after a political development took place.
The government plans to introduce an ordinance that eyes disqualification of members; however, the qualification and disqualification of members are included in the Constitution of Pakistan,” he said.
He said that he had a stance from the beginning which he still adheres to, adding that he is not part of any political game. Nisar also said that news about his meeting with Shahbaz Sharif is only based on speculations.
It should be noted that speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is currently the acting governor in the absence of Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar. He is not attending the assembly session.
Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Mohammad Mazari is not attending either due to personal engagements, sources in the Punjab Assembly said. Nisar met Punjab Assembly Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti and presented him with a copy of the rules.
Nisar, who used to be one of the most influential leaders in the PML-N, contested the 2018 elections as an independent candidate from two national and two provincial assembly seats after developing differences with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
‘No one stopped Ch Nisar from taking oath’
Issuing a clarification, Secretary of the Punjab Assembly Muhammad Khan Bhatti said that no one had stopped Nisar from taking an oath, adding that three applications in this regard have been filed to the Rawalpindi bench while two other applications have been filed at the Lahore High Court.
“We have asked for two days to check if there are no stay orders in response to the applications,” he said. “We don’t want Nisar to take the oath if there is a stay order otherwise that would be a contempt of court.” He said that once a legal opinion has been sought, Nisar would be allowed to take the oath.
The government has nothing to do with the swearing-in of Chaudhry Nisar, Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat said. He said Nisar had “destroyed the constituency in the last three years, adding that millions of rupees were lost because Nisar had not taken oath earlier.”
