LAHORE: Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz has called the Punjab chief secretary (CS) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) ‘crowns’ of his government.

Speaking a press conference here on Thursday, he criticised Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi for his demand to present CS Kamran Afzal and IG Rao Sardar Ali Khan to the Punjab Assembly to tender an apology (for what the opposition claimed torture of its lawmakers by police during the election of the chief minister in April last in the House).

Hamza said Elahi created a constitutional crisis in the province by not holding the budget session. “When we asked the speaker and the opposition about presenting the budget, they asked to present the CS and IG first. The IG and the chief secretary are the crowns of my government,” the son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared. He alleged Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari was attacked in the assembly at the behest of Elahi.

“(Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman) Imran Khan and Parvez Elahi cannot become a hurdle in our way to progress,” Hamza said.

On the other hand, Parvez Elahi said: “The PML-N government is committing the worst acts of revenge. Punjab has become a police state and is being run by the IG and not by ‘bogus’ CM Hamza.”

The speaker said sarcastically it seemed the IGP had retained Hamza Shehbaz as his PA (personal secretary).

“The conduct of the IG Punjab Police will be taken up in the privilege committee and he will have to be answerable for his retaliatory actions,” Mr Elahi declared.

The speaker held a grudge against the CS and IGP when police entered the Punjab Assembly during the election of the chief minister on April 16 to maintain order. A day before the election, the LHC had directed the top officials to ensure security on the polling day. Elahi was the joint candidate of the PTI and PML-Q

Interestingly, both CS and IG were appointed by former chief minister Usman Buzdar. However, they had reportedly started following Hamza’s orders when a no-confidence motion was filed against Buzdar in late March.

“Since the PML-N leadership used to rely mostly on bureaucracy instead of elected lawmakers in running the government affairs, it was in no mood to annoy the bosses of civil and police bureaucracy,” a party insider told Dawn.

On Wednesday, the Hamza government had found the solution to the standoff with Mr Elahi who had linked the presentation of fiscal budget 2022-23 with an apology from the chief secretary and the IGP by clipping his powers and placing the assembly under the law secretary.

Governor Balighur Rehman promulgated The Punjab Laws (Repealing and Removal of Difficulties) Ordinance 2022, curtailing the speaker’s powers and empowering the Punjab law and parliamentary affairs department to issue notifications of summoning or prorogation of the provincial assembly.

Published in Dawn,June 17th, 2022