Punjab governor vows to put Hamza Shehbaz in jail if provided five soldiers

• Governor Omar Sarafarz Cheema wants to arrest Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz.     
• Crisis-hit Punjab has been taken hostage by force, he says.  
• The natural umpire has the same rules for both teams, says the Punjab governor 

 LAHORE: A day after urging Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa to play his "role" in the implementation of the Constitutional framework in Punjab, Governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema Thursday said that he will arrest CM Hamza Shehbaz Sharif if provided “a subedar and four soldiers”.

In a statement on Twitter, Omar Sarafarz Cheema said that the crisis-hit province has been taken hostage by force. 

The PTI loyalist said that the silence of mainstream political parties on the constitutional crisis in Punjab is "extremely worrying" and added that Awab Alvi, President Arif Alvi's son, will be the next chief minister of Sindh if such practices become the culture of our politics.

"I always called for a neutral umpire during my political struggle,” he said, adding that the neutral umpire, in fact, has the same rules for both teams.

Cheema has been at the centre of controversy in the country's biggest province since PTI appointed him as governor replacing Mohammad Sarwar at the peak of the crisis last month.

Refusing to administer the oath to Hamza Shehbaz, he also earned the ire of the Lahore High Court which later ordered National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to do the job.

Governor appeals COAS to play his 'role'

A day earlier, Omar Sarfaraz Cheema had penned a letter to COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa urging him to play his due role in the implementation of the constitutional framework in the province.

He had appealed to the army chief to play his role to restore people’s confidence in provincial and federal governments.

He also sent copies of his letter to the prime minister and the president.

'No power can bar me from stopping your son's unconstitutional actions'

Earlier, Omar Sarfaraz Cheema had written a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif about the political and constitutional crisis in the province.

In the letter, the Punjab governor vowed to protect the country’s Constitution by utilising all of his skills and abilities.

“No power can bar me from stopping your son's unconstitutional actions,” the governor had told the PM.

Declaring Usman Buzdar’s resignation as controversial, Cheema had accused the PML-N of securing the support of PTI’s dissident lawmakers and added that the turncoats were even presented before the media.

“Hamza Shahbaz has taken advantage of being the son of the prime minister.”

The governor had said that the Punjab Assembly secretary had apprised him about the violations of laws relating to the “fraud election” for the post of the chief minister.

“You, as prime minister, dragged the country towards political crisis by using your powers unconstitutionally,” Cheema had stated.

“You, your son and Maryam Nawaz are nominated in criminal cases”, the governor had said, adding that it is the country’s "bad luck" that the PM and Punjab CM were on key posts despite being on bails.