Interim CM: PPP names its top picks for Punjab
Opposition sends names of Hafeez Akhtar Randhawa, Asma Jahangir and Mian Aamir Mehmood.
Hafeez Akhtar Randhawa, Asma Jahangir and Mian Aamir Mehmood have been nominated for the position of caretaker CM. PHOTO: EXPRESS/ FILE
LAHORE:
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has unveiled its picks for the caretaker chief minister of Punjab — proposing the names of Hafeez Akhtar Randhawa, Asma Jahangir and Mian Aamir Mehmood.
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz has proposed the three names as their final nominees for the interim chief minister and communicated their choice to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif through a letter.
Randhawa is a retired senior bureaucrat and the former Punjab chief secretary. Jahangir is a rights activist and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). Mehmood is a business tycoon and former district nazim of Lahore.
According to PPP’s Deputy Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Shaukat Mehmood Basra, the party has finalised these names after thorough consultation with all opposition political parties. He said the PPP has urged Shahbaz Sharif to agree to any one of the proposed names since they are “upright and dedicated” men.
Earlier, Shahbaz Sharif, leader of the house in the Punjab Assembly, had sent a letter to Riaz in which he had proposed two names – Justice (retd) Aamir Raza Khan and former federal secretary Khawaja Zaheer.
However, Basra said that the opposition parties have rejected Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) nominees as they are not “credible”.
Riaz insisted that the PPP will not withdraw any of the above-mentioned names since they were “democratic and political personalities”.
While talking to reporters, Shahbaz Sharif said the PML-N would take a final decision after consultations over PPP’s proposed names.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s Central Information Secretary Shafqat Mehmood said that the PPP has neither sought their consent on these names, nor have they approached Imran Khan’s party for a new name.
Despite that, he said that PTI did second the name of Mian Aamir Mehmood — saying that the party finds him suitable for the slot.
However, when contacted, Mehmood said that due to “journalistic responsibilities” it would not be suitable for him to accept the slot of the caretaker chief minister of Punjab.
Earlier, the PPP had floated two names for the slot: Nawab of Bahawalpur Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi and Justice (retd) Arif Chaudhry. Later on, a high-level delegation of the PPP led by Riaz visited the residence of PML-Q’s Punjab President Chaudhry Pervez Elahi in Lahore where both agreed to unanimously announce the two names of Hafeez Akhtar Randhawa and former chief justice of Lahore High Court Justice (retd) Syed Zahid Hussain Bukhari.
But when the party leader officially wrote to Shahbaz Sharif, the PPP had picked Randhawa from PML-Q’s list and included two new names on its own. It is pertinent to mention that PML-N had also added Jahangir’s name in its preliminary list of caretaker prime ministers but the PTI had strongly raised objections over her name.
According to PPP officials in Punjab, name of the caretaker chief minister will be decided by the parliamentary committee and not by Riaz and Sharif.
However, they insisted that the Punjab Assembly will be dissolved before the expiry of of the parliamentary committee on appointment of the caretaker prime minister (March 20-22).
Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2013.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has unveiled its picks for the caretaker chief minister of Punjab — proposing the names of Hafeez Akhtar Randhawa, Asma Jahangir and Mian Aamir Mehmood.
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz has proposed the three names as their final nominees for the interim chief minister and communicated their choice to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif through a letter.
Randhawa is a retired senior bureaucrat and the former Punjab chief secretary. Jahangir is a rights activist and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). Mehmood is a business tycoon and former district nazim of Lahore.
According to PPP’s Deputy Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Shaukat Mehmood Basra, the party has finalised these names after thorough consultation with all opposition political parties. He said the PPP has urged Shahbaz Sharif to agree to any one of the proposed names since they are “upright and dedicated” men.
Earlier, Shahbaz Sharif, leader of the house in the Punjab Assembly, had sent a letter to Riaz in which he had proposed two names – Justice (retd) Aamir Raza Khan and former federal secretary Khawaja Zaheer.
However, Basra said that the opposition parties have rejected Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) nominees as they are not “credible”.
Riaz insisted that the PPP will not withdraw any of the above-mentioned names since they were “democratic and political personalities”.
While talking to reporters, Shahbaz Sharif said the PML-N would take a final decision after consultations over PPP’s proposed names.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s Central Information Secretary Shafqat Mehmood said that the PPP has neither sought their consent on these names, nor have they approached Imran Khan’s party for a new name.
Despite that, he said that PTI did second the name of Mian Aamir Mehmood — saying that the party finds him suitable for the slot.
However, when contacted, Mehmood said that due to “journalistic responsibilities” it would not be suitable for him to accept the slot of the caretaker chief minister of Punjab.
Earlier, the PPP had floated two names for the slot: Nawab of Bahawalpur Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi and Justice (retd) Arif Chaudhry. Later on, a high-level delegation of the PPP led by Riaz visited the residence of PML-Q’s Punjab President Chaudhry Pervez Elahi in Lahore where both agreed to unanimously announce the two names of Hafeez Akhtar Randhawa and former chief justice of Lahore High Court Justice (retd) Syed Zahid Hussain Bukhari.
But when the party leader officially wrote to Shahbaz Sharif, the PPP had picked Randhawa from PML-Q’s list and included two new names on its own. It is pertinent to mention that PML-N had also added Jahangir’s name in its preliminary list of caretaker prime ministers but the PTI had strongly raised objections over her name.
According to PPP officials in Punjab, name of the caretaker chief minister will be decided by the parliamentary committee and not by Riaz and Sharif.
However, they insisted that the Punjab Assembly will be dissolved before the expiry of of the parliamentary committee on appointment of the caretaker prime minister (March 20-22).
Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2013.