LAHORE - Former Punjab Governor Ch Muhammad Sarwar, who intends to do politics in future, will have to wait for two years to join a political party or to make his own.
Similarly, he cannot contest election before completion of the stipulated period, as per the legal position.
However, there would be no legal bar on the ex-governor to deliver lectures, hold press conferences and speak at any non-political forum.
But legal experts believe that it would be very difficult to judge his utterances whether they are political or non-political. The ex-governor, they said, may take advantage of this to say things which are political and at the same time may be interpreted as non-political. “For example, if Ch Sarwar launches a campaign for local bodies’ elections, it would be hard to establish this activity as political one,” said a legal expert.
Giving his legal opinion on the subject, former Election Commission of Pakistan secretary Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad opined that since the office of governor comes under the category of services of Pakistan under article 63 of the Constitution, the ex-governor will have to abide by the constitution in this regard. He added that Political Parties Order, 2002 also placed restriction on ex-servicemen from becoming member of any political party for two years since their retirement.
Dilshad further informed that two ex-presidents, Sardar Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari and Pervez Musharraf, had waited for two years to take part in active politics. The same applies to the governors as well, he said citing the relevant article of the constitution and the provisions of Political Parties Order. Similarly, Asif Ali Zardari has also not been officially designated as head of the PPP because of the legal bar on him, he said.
Speaking in the same context, Dilshad pointed out former Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khosa was enjoying an exception to the rule since he became secretary general of the PPP before completion of two years after his retirement as Punjab governor.
He wondered as to why the Election Commission had allowed Mr Latif Khosa to hold a party office in violation of rules. This, he said, was despite the fact that Naheed Khan, ex-political secretary to Benazir Bhutto, had pointed out this illegality in a written application filed with the ECP.
A close aide to Ch Sarwar told The Nation that former Punjab governor was not in a hurry to join any political party and that he would not do anything which is against the law and the constitution.
Meanwhile, former caretaker prime minister Mir Balakh Sher Khan Mazari called on the former Punjab governor at his Shami Road office and discussed with him the current political situation.