Cheema to be adviser to Punjab CM on home affairs

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has approved the name of party activist and former governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema as adviser to Punjab chief minister on home affairs, The News learnt here on Wednesday.

Earlier, Cheema was serving as an adviser to CM on information. Omar Cheema confirmed the development on Twitter and thanked the PTI chairman for picking him for the post.

The decision to appoint Cheema comes a day after former provincial home minister Col (retd) Hashim Dogar sent his resignation to Punjab CM Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Sources said Omar Cheema would be given all the powers of home minister by the provincial government.

It was a consensus opinion of a meeting, held with former premier Imran Khan, that Omar Cheema could give tough time to Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) in Punjab. He would provide all facilities to Imran Khan for PTI’s proposed long march towards Islamabad.

Imran Khan’s close aide Shahbaz Gill recently raised a question about the performance of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab home departments, saying that containers had been reaching the federal capital from the two provinces for blocking roads to stop Imran Khan’s proposed long march. “Why home ministers of these provinces were not stopping movement of containers towards Islamabad,” he had asked. Later, Punjab Home Minister Hashim Dogar tendered his resignation and Imran Khan cleared the name of Omar Sarfraz Cheema as adviser on home affairs.