Parliamentary panel to decide interim Punjab CM

Talks between Balochistan govt, opposition end in deadlock

LAHORE/QUETTA: Following days of chaos, the decision to choose Punjab caretaker chief minister was left to a parliamentary committee on Sunday after the government and opposition failed to reach a consensus.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has floated three names for the parliamentary committee to discuss from its side. They included former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, former adviser on information and culture Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan and former health minister Khawja Imran Nazeer.

According to well-placed sources in the PML-N said, “The chances of making a breakthrough on the matter are thin and the matter will ultimately land in the court of the Election Commission of Pakistan.”

He said the names proposed by the opposition lacked credibility, adding on the other hand we had put forward the names of retired civil servants with impeccable track record.

Meanwhile speaking to media outside Punjab Assembly, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member and former opposition leader Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed said two names were finalised for the interim slot in a meeting with party chief Imran Khan.

“Since the government and opposition could not reach consensus on a name, the decision will be taken by a parliamentary committee,” he said.

“We have nominated Hasan Askari Rizvi and Ayaz Amir for caretaker chief minister.”

He said the party had nominated himself, Sibtain Rehman and two others to be included in the parliamentary committee.

Meanwhile, PML-N has put forth the names of Naval Chief Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah, former DG Intelligence Bureau Aftab Sultan, Justice (retd) Siar Ali and former IGP Tariq Saleem Dogar for the interim position.



PTI has continued to swing back and forth over nominations for Punjab’s interim chief minister slot.

On Friday, the party had another embarrassing situation as two party leaders tasked with announcing PTI’s fresh nominations for the interim post ended up giving contradictory statements and rejecting each other’s claims.

While Rasheed had informed the media about party’s two new nominations of controversial columnist Orya Maqbool Jan and businessman Yaqoob Izhar for the caretaker chief minister of Punjab.

PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry jumped into the fray, claiming that Orya Maqbool Jan is not on the fresh list of nominations, which include Yaqoob Izhar, former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA and columnist Ayaz Amir, and the previously-nominated defense and political analyst Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi.

Separately in Balochistan, the sixth round of talks between former CM Abdul Quddus Bizenjo and ex-opposition leader Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal for choosing the caretaker chief minister failed to make any headway.

The meeting was also attended by two former chief ministers Sanaullah Zehri and Dr Abdul Malik Baloch. Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhel and Obaidullah Babit were also present.
Sources said that Bizenjo and Ziaratwal were insisting on selecting the final candidate from their lists. Instead of shortlisting the candidates, both sides included one candidate each for the slot of the caretaker CM. Ziaratwal included former Supreme Court Bar Association President Ali Ahmed Kurd and Bizenjo ex-senator Hussain Bakhsh Bangulzai.
Now seven candidates are in the run for the caretaker CM’s slot. Bizenjo’s candidates include Prince Ahmed Ali Ahmedzai, Kamran Murtaza Advocate and Allauddin Marri, while Ziaratwal’s include former Balochistan Assembly speaker Aslam Bhootani, Ashraf Jahangir Qazi and Ali Ahmed Kurd.
Sources said that the issue would first go to the parliamentary committee and if it fails to select a candidate, the matter would be sent to the Election Commission of Pakistan.