Omar Sarfraz Cheema takes oath as New Punjab Governor

LAHORE: Omer Sarfraz Cheema was sworn in as the 38th governor of the Punjab during a solemn ceremony at the Governor’s House, here on Sunday.

Chief Justice Lahore High Court Muhammad Ameer Bhatti administered the oath to the new governor Punjab. Earlier, Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal read out the presidential notification of the appointment.

Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar, MPAs Raja Yasir Humayon Sarfraz, Sadia Sohail Rana, Musarrat Jamshed, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab Rai Sardar Ali Khan, judges of the LHC, members of civil society and a large number of party workers attended the ceremony.

One of the founding members of the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Omer Sarfraz Cheema has served as the central information secretary PTI for seven years besides working as the vice president of the party. Governor Punjab Omer Sarfraz Cheema hails from Tehsil Sahara of Wazirabad district in Punjab.

Earlier, Governor Punjab Omer Sarfraz Cheema was given ‘guard of honor’ upon his arrival at the Governor’s House. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government on Sunday removed Chaudhry Sarwar as governor Punjab and appointed Omar Cheema in his place, ahead of the election for the new Punjab chief minister and the voting on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly.

The decision to sack Sarwar was announced by Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry in a tweet in this morning. Fawad had earlier said the new Punjab governor will be announced later. “Till then, the deputy speaker will perform duties as acting governor as per the Constitution,” he added.

Sources said the governor was removed on the complaint of Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi. Elahi had accused Sarwar of siding with the Aleem Khan group — that is supporting PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz against Elahi — in the election of the Punjab CM.