Caretaker CM appointment: Hamza Shahbaz contacts Parvez Elahi via Malik Ahmad

LAHORE: In connection with consultations for appointment of a caretaker chief minister in Punjab, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) contacted Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi here on Monday, according to the party sources.

Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz, who is abroad currently, had appointed Malik Ahmad Khan as his representative to hold consultations with Elahi.

Malik Ahmad called Parvez Elahi and discussed the appointment of an interim setup. Elahi said they had proposed names that would be acceptable for the PMLN also.

Chaudhry Parvez Elahi had written to Governor Punjab Balighur Rehman for formation of caretaker government in the province. He had recommended the names of Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera, Naseer Ahmed Khan, and Nasir Mehmood Khosa for reaching consensus with the PMLN for appointment of a consensus caretaker CM.

However, former civil servant Nasir Mehmood Khosa, meanwhile, reportedly excused himself from accepting the post of caretaker CM. According to reports, the PMLN contacted Khosa, who refused to accept the post in the interim setup. He thanked those who reposed trust in him.

Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who’s also president of the PMLN, chaired a consultative meeting of his party at his Model Town residence on Monday. Party supremo Nawaz Sharif was scheduled to address the meeting through video-link, but he did not. Party sources said former prime minister had already expressed his anger over the success of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi in getting vote of confidence.

Top party leadership including federal ministers Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Ahsan Iqbal, and other party leaders – Azam Nazir Tarar, Attaullah Tarar, Malik Ahmed Khan – and others participated in the meeting. Sources said PM Shehbaz Sharif told the party leadership that wrong calculations and claims were presented to him.

Sources said the PMLN considered the names of Azam Salman, Khalilur Rahman Ramday, Nasir Masood and Jawad S Khawaja for caretaker chief minister’s slot. According to Geo, Khalilur Rahman Ramday decline to accept the slot.

The PTI had already sent three names to the Punjab governor, who had forwarded those names to the opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz. Later, Shehbaz Sharif’s son Suleman Shehbaz, Chief Secretary Abdullah Sumbal and DG Intelligence Bureau also reached Model Town and held separate meetings with the prime minister.

The Punjab governor, in his tweet, said: “I have received three names from Chief Minister Parvez Elahi, which are being forwarded to Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz Sharif. I would like to see both of the leaders jointly agree on any name within stipulated time period.” The names are Sardar Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera, Nasir Mehmood Khosa and Muhammad Naseer Khan.

If CM Parvez Elahi and Hamza Shehbaz failed to reach consensus, then the Punjab Assembly speaker would constitute a parliamentary committee, which would finalise the name. Earlier, Federal Education Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain said that the PMLN would give three names for the caretaker chief minister slot on Monday.

Talking to the media, he said Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government was ready to take the vote of confidence, as it had the required numbers in the National Assembly.

He said elections would be held in the Punjab province only where the assembly had been dissolved. The PTI would now have to face failure. He claimed that the PTI was reluctant to dissolve the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assembly.

He said the PDM government in centre was trying to fix the economy of the country and it would take at least one-and-a-half years at least.