Bipartisan panel assigned the task

PA speaker nominates three members each from coalition, opposition

LAHORE:

Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan has formed a six-member bipartisan committee to appoint the caretaker chief minister.

As per a notification issued on Thursday, the committee has three members each from the coalition and the united opposition.

Mian Aslam Iqbal, Basharat Raja and Hashim Jawan Bakht will represent the outgoing government, while Malik Ahmed Khan, Hasan Murtaza and Malik Nadeem Kamran will hold the discussions on behalf of the opposition.

The committee will deliberate on names for the caretaker chief minister for three days.

Meanwhile, the members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) parliamentary committee met party chairman Imran Khan to discuss issues related to setting up the caretaker government in Punjab. PTI's senior vice president Fawad Chaudhry was also present.

A detailed consultation was held on important issues regarding the nomination of the caretaker chief minister and the names of Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera, Naveed Cheema and Naseer Khan were considered.

After the consultation with the chairman, it was reportedly agreed that the party would send two names to the parliamentary committee.

Former prime minister Imran Khan said on the occasion that the country could not afford a delay in elections in any circumstances.

Jeopardising the transparency of the elections amid the extremely sensitive situation of the country would be tantamount to enmity with the nation, he warned.

The conduct of fair and transparent elections was the most serious matter, he added. "Only a caretaker government with the best reputation and capacity will be fit for this responsibility," he said.

He added that the PTI was nominating persons with the best reputation and abilities for the caretaker set-up. The PTI chairman said it would be a folly to allow a group fearful of facing the people to cause more damage.

He said the constitutional requirement for the establishment of caretaker governments should be seriously fulfilled and the people should be immediately given the right to decide about their future through elections.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has agreed on three names for the post of Punjab caretaker chief minister.

“Imran Khan has suggested three names for interim chief minister — Ahmed Nawaz Sukhira, Naseer Khan, and Nasir Khosa,” Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi told reporters in Lahore.

The process to install a caretaker set-up in Punjab was set in motion on Saturday after the provincial assembly was allowed to dissolve automatically as Governor Balighur Rehman refrained from giving his assent to Elahi’s dissolution advice .

According to Article 112(1), the assembly stands automatically “dissolved at the expiration of 48 hours after the chief minister has so advised” if the governor did not do it.

Earlier, PML-N leader and Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz proposed two names for interim chief minister of the province.

The PML-N leader forwarded names of Syed Mohsin Akhtar Naqvi and Ahad Khan Cheema to Governor Balighur Rehman for the appointment of Punjab interim chief minister.

Hamza also rejected the names suggested by outgoing CM Pervaiz Elahi for the post.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2023.