Amraiz Khan Lahore
The Pakistan Muslim League-N and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Pakistan have nominated their respective candidates as Caretaker Chief Minister for Punjab on Tuesday.
PML-N nominated the names of senior journalist Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi and former bureaucrat Ahad Cheema.
On the other hand Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi said three names for a caretaker Punjab Chief Minister have been agreed upon after the consultation with Imran Khan. In his tweet, Pervaiz Elahi said that the three names including Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera, Naseer Ahmed Khan and Nasir Saeed Khosa were finalised for the caretaker Punjab CM slot.
Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz has written a letter to the Punjab governor.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed the nominees with his coalition partners Asif Ali Zardari, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. Special Assistant to PM Malik Ahmad Khan held a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz on the matter.
After the meeting, he said the premier shortlisted names and sent these to former president Asif Ali Zardari. In a tweet, Malik Ahmad Khan revealed that “for the appointment of caretaker chief minister of Punjab, the PML-N after consultation also agreed on the name of former president Supreme Court Bar Ahsan Bhoon. But he thanked the PML-N leadership and apologized to become the caretaker CM due to the responsibilities and demands of lawyer politics.” The names were forwarded by the Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz. Among the nominated persons, Ahad Cheema was facing accusations of corruption cases alongside the prime minister. Cheema had sought retirement from his government job in June last year.He has been appointed by PM Shehbaz Sharif as his adviser for the establishment. Prior to the PML-N’s letter, PM Sharif initiated consultations for the caretaker Punjab chief minister. He held telephonic conversations with the top leaders of the coalition parties including Asif Ali Zardari, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.
“We are sending these names to the Punjab governor and if the opposition thinks broadly, the agreement upon the suggested names seems likely.”
It is pertinent to mention here that Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi forwarded the summary of dissolution on Thursday, and as per the Constitution, the assembly dissolves within 48 hours regardless of the governor’s decision. According to Article 112 of the Constitution, the assembly stands automatically “dissolved at the expiration of forty-eight hours after the chief minister has so advised” if the governor does not do it.
