Mohsin Naqvi named caretaker chief minister of Punjab

Electoral authority's decision comes after failure of the provincial government and the opposition to reach a consensus on the caretaker chief executive of the most populated province of Pakistan

By APP

Published: Sun 22 Jan 2023, 9:29 PM

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday appointed Mohsin Raza Naqvi as caretaker chief minister of Punjab.

A meeting of the ECP presided over by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja picked Naqvi from among four nominees – two from the government and two from the opposition – already received by the ECP.

Two candidates were nominated by the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and allies, and as many by the coalition government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q), led by former chief minister Chaudhary Pervez Elahi.

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The ECP finalised the name of Mohsin Naqvi after keenly observing and discussing the profiles, performances, and other details of the four nominees, namely Mohsin Naqvi, Ahad Cheema, Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera and Naveed Cheema.

The meeting was summoned on Sunday to deliberate over the proposed names of Punjab’s interim chief minister to fill the highest post of the province.

The issue was referred to the ECP after a six-member bi-partisan parliamentary committee, formed by the Speaker Punjab Assembly Sibtain Khan, failed to reach a consensus over the names for the interim CM.

The parliamentary committee of the government and opposition members met last Friday; however, they failed to reach a consensus on a single name.

The government had proposed the names of Sardar Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera and Naveed Akram Cheema, while the opposition had nominated Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi and Ahad Khan Cheema for the slot of the caretaker chief minister of the province.