Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi on Sunday announced three candidates for the post of caretaker chief minister after the dissolution of the provincial assembly, saying they had been agreed upon in consultation with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.
In an interaction with media after a meeting with the PTI chief, Elahi said he would forward the name of Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera; Naseer Ahmed Khan; and Nasir Saeed Khosa to Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman. “We are sending these names to the governor and if the opposition thinks broadly, the agreement upon the suggested names seems likely,” he claimed in a posting on Twitter.
The governor would then share these names with Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz, who would have until Tuesday night to either agree to one of the names or offer his own candidates. In case of a stalemate, the Punjab speaker would form a six-member committee comprising three members each from the opposition and treasury, which would have three days to evolve consensus. If its efforts also fail, then the matter would be placed before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which have two days to pick the interim chief minister.
Elahi will continue to serve as the Punjab chief minister until the name of a caretaker C.M. had been finalized. Of the candidates proposed by the PTI, one is likely ineligible—Sukhera—as he has yet to retire from government service.
During his media interaction, the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) was asked to weigh in on reports of a potential merger between his party and the PTI ahead of polls. Claiming such a merger would strengthen the PTI, he said the issue would be discussed in a meeting of the PMLQ on Monday (today). However, he added, his son Moonis Elahi is in favor of the two partier merging.