No voting for new Punjab CM today

A schedule will be issued and candidates will submit nomination papers, says Punjab Assembly secretary

LAHORE:

Lawmakers in Punjab will not be electing the new chief minister of the province today and an election schedule will be issued instead, said Punjab Assembly Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti on Saturday.

“The assembly will convene today at 11 am and during the session, candidates will submit their nomination papers,” the secretary said. "The speaker has the power to call for a vote tomorrow or Monday."

The assembly secretariat also released the agenda and SOPs for the session to be held for the election of the leader of the house.

“On the day of the election of the chief minister, the members of the assembly should bring their national identity and assembly cards. Guests of the members will be barred from entering the assembly whereas no member would be allowed to take their mobile phone or carry handbags in the house,” the agenda stated.

A day earlier, Governor Punjab Chaudhry Sarwar accepted PTI leader Usman Buzdar's resignation as the chief minister of Punjab, following which the provincial cabinet was dissolved. He had summoned a provincial assembly session for today to elect a replacement.

As both the government and opposition leaders labour to secure the slot of the Punjab chief minister, the joint opposition appeared not only indecisive about their candidature, but also at odds over the coveted post.

Hours after PML-N nominated the opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, Hamza Shehbaz, as the joint opposition’s candidate for the slot, the PPP – a major party of the joint opposition – shrugged its shoulders and insisted that Hamza was only PML-N’s candidate and did not represent the joint opposition’s preference for the top slot.

Zulfiqar Ali Badar, PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto’s spokesperson, told The Express Tribune that opposition parties have not yet made their decision regarding the CM Punjab slot, adding he was not aware of the PML-N’s announcement.