Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman on Tuesday wrote to Speaker Sibtain Khan, directing him to form a parliamentary committee with representation of both treasury and opposition benches, to evolve consensus on a candidate for the post of caretaker chief minister as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) failed to reach any agreement.
In a letter addressed to the speaker, the governor urged him to fulfill his obligation in “the manner prescribed in Article 224A(2) of the Constitution” and form a parliamentary committee to appoint the caretaker chief minister. Earlier, Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz had forwarded the names of two nominees—Mohsin Raza Naqvi and Ahad Khan Cheema—against the PTI and PMLQ’s proposed Naseer Khan and Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera. Nasir Khosa, also nominated by the PTI, has rejected the offer, as he had also done in 2018.
The PTI immediately rejected Hamza’s candidates, with senior party leader Chaudhry Fawad Hussain claiming their nomination was a “joke” and their candidates were far superior. “Ahad Cheema and Mohsin Naqvi sound like a joke,” he told journalists in Lahore. “Ahad Cheema is a NAB-tainted nominee, and let’s not talk about Naqvi,” he said. “Our nominees are towering people. The party has urged one of them, Nasir Khosa—a very respected bureaucrat—to reconsider his rejection of the offer as this will be his contribution to Pakistan,” he added.
To a question on how Sukhera could take charge as interim chief minister as he has yet to retire from public service, Fawad claimed he had promised to seek early retirement.
The committee to be constituted by the speaker now has three days to develop consensus over the proposed candidates. If it fails to reach any agreement—which is appearing likely—the matter would be placed before the Election Commission of Pakistan, which would have two days to pick the caretaker chief minister.