LAHORE - Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khosa has said that Senate polls will not be postponed if Punjab Assembly stands dissolved.
Talking to reporters after prize distribution ceremony of 7th National Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women Karate Championship here on Sunday, the Governor opined that in case Punjab Assembly is dissolved before the Senate elections, the vacant seats from Punjab will be filled after election of new Assembly; while rest of the vacant seats from other provinces will be filled as per schedule.
He said the suggestion to dissolve the Assembly had come from members of the forward bloc who had been kept deprived of ministries for quite some time. He also said that no legislator belonging to PML-N will like the idea of Punjab Assembly being dissolved.
Replying to a question about Supreme Court decision that governor was bound to act on chief minister’s advice on appointment of vice-chancellors in public sector universities, Khosa said his powers as chancellor of different universities had not been curtailed after the court verdict.
To a question, the governor condemned 10-day remand of Ayesha Malik by a sessions court, but appreciated the Lahore High Court for taking notice of the matter. “If it was a family matter of Mian Shahbaz Sharif, it should have been settled outside the court,” Khosa observed.
Earlier, while addressing the ceremony, the governor said that federal government was endeavouring to provide equal opportunities of development to women in accordance with the vision of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed. He also took credit for nomination of first woman speaker (in the National Assembly) and foreign minister by the PPP-led government.