Meanwhile the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the opposition have agreed to appoint former bureaucrat Mohammad Azam Khan as KP’s caretaker chief minister.
By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Lawmakers in Punjab failed to select a caretaker provincial chief minister due to an impasse among the ruling and opposition parties on a candidate.
A parliamentary committee failed to reach a consensus on Friday, leaving the selection of the chief minister to be decided by the election authorities.
The ruling alliance initially proposed former Punjab chief secretary Nasir Mahmood Khosa, serving bureaucrat Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera and Naseer Khan. Later, it reduced the nominations from three to two, with a new Naveed Akram Cheema, a former chief secretary.
Opposition had nominated Ahad Cheema, a former bureaucrat and Special Assistant to the prime minister, and Mohsin Naqvi, owner of a media house.
PTI’s former provincial minister Raja Basharat said it was decided, after a deadlock, to send the names of all the nominees to the ECP so that the matter could be decided.
“The election commission should compare all the nominees and pick the best person for the role.”
Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government and the opposition have agreed to appoint former bureaucrat Mohammad Azam Khan as KP’s caretaker chief minister.
A letter addressed to KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali and signed by the outgoing Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and Leader of the Opposition Akram Khan Durrani, stated on Friday that the two had agreed to nominate Khan after consultation.
“We, after consultation, have agreed to nominate M. Azam Khan to be appointed as care-taker Chief Minister, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” the notification, bearing the chief minister’s and Durrani’s signatures, read.
“Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa may proceed to appoint him as such.”
PTI’s chief 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.
The coalition government, however, insists that general elections will be held after the completion of the tenure in August. Historically, polls for the federal and provincial governments are held at the same time every five years.
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