By Naveed Naqvi
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday appointed Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi as the caretaker chief minister of Punjab province after a bi-partisan parliamentary committee failed to reach a consensus on the candidate within the stipulated time.
The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja.
“The Election Commission of Pakistan has unanimously decided to appoint Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi as caretaker chief minister Punjab with immediate effect,” the ECP said in a statement.
The ECP only had time till Sunday to take a decision on Punjab’s caretaker CM, as the two-day deadline given to the poll watchdog for the purpose was due to expire on Sunday. Naqvi took oath for the interim post later in the evening.
The caretaker chief minister will hold elections in the country’s most populous province.
Former prime minister Imran Khan, who was ousted as prime minister in a no-confidence vote in April 2022, announced last month to dissolve two of the country’s four provincial assemblies where he holds power, in a bid to force early elections. Last week, he Tahreek-e-Insaf party provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Naqvi, a media mogul, is believed to be very close to Pakistan People’s Party leader Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.
He was one of the two candidates proposed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for caretaker chief minister position.
PTI’s Khan criticised the election authorities for choosing a “sworn enemy” of his political faction.
“PMLN has a history of selecting their own umpires but it’s incredible how ECP has selected a sworn enemy of PTI as Caretaker CM Punjab – a post meant for a nonpartisan person,” Khan said on Twitter.
The former PM shared a document with his social media post, saying Naqvi had made a voluntary return deal of Rs3.5 million with the country’s anti-graft National Accountability Bureau (NAB) while maintaining that he was no longer eligible to hold any public office.
“ECP has helped reduce [Pakistan] to a Banana Republic making our democracy a joke.”
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