Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati has written to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, expressing his objection over the provincial governor administering the oath to the newly elected members of the assembly. He calls it a constitutional violation.

In the letter, Speaker Babar Saleem Swati has taken the position that the orders of the Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court are illegal and the constitution was violated in the process of taking the oath.

The Speaker took the position that according to Articles 130 and 255 of the Constitution, only the Speaker has the authority to administer the oath to the members of the assembly, not the Governor.

Babar Saleem Swati clarified in the letter that the Governor’s taking the oath is a violation of constitutional limits and an interference in parliamentary powers.

According to him, constitutional avenues are being taken against this unconstitutional move and the matter will be referred to the court. In the letter, the Speaker has demanded that the Chief Justice of Pakistan take immediate notice of this constitutional violation.

He further said that this is not just a matter of oath-taking or a meeting, but a question of protecting the constitutional scope and parliamentary dignity.

The Speaker said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly will take every legal and constitutional means to defend its sovereignty, so that there is no room for any unauthorized interference in the future.