ECP to pick Punjab caretaker CM today

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will meet here today (Sunday) to decide the name for Punjab caretaker chief minister from the four nominees forwarded, two each by the government and opposition.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja has convened the meeting of the full commission to name the Punjab caretaker CM. The matter was sent to the electoral body under Clause 3 of Article 224-A of the Constitution.

“Provided that in case of inability of the committee to decide the matter in the aforesaid period, the names of the nominees shall be referred to the Election Commission of Pakistan for final decision within two days,” says Clause 3. It is pertinent that Sunday is the last of the two days for the electoral body to finalise one name.

The ECP sources confirmed that a meeting had been called Sunday and all eyes were now focused on the commission to pick a name for the caretaker chief minister’s post.

Outgoing Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had proposed the names of Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera and Naveed Akram Cheema while opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz had forwarded the names of Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi and Ahad Khan Cheema.

The matter landed at the ECP after a parliamentary committee, constituted by the Punjab Assembly speaker, failed to evolve a consensus on a candidate for the slot of the caretaker chief minister.

The six-member committee, having equal representation from the treasury and opposition, had only a day to deliberate upon the nominations made by the outgoing chief minister and opposition leader.

Though, as per Article 224-A of the Constitution, the parliamentary committee has three days to select one of the four nominees yet to a delay in the notification for formation of panel, the committee was left with only one day to consider the four names.

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, also an ally of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, has already announced to approach a court of law if any controversial person was selected by the ECP from the four-nominee panel.

Separately, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Ghulam Ali administered the oath to Mohammad Azam Khan as the caretaker chief minister of the province.

The oath-taking ceremony took place at the Governor’s House on Saturday, attended by authorities concerned.

The appointment was made a day after the departing Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and opposition leader Akram Khan Durrani decided to nominate Azam Khan after holding a meeting in Peshawar.

Caretaker Chief Minister Mohammad Azam Khan is a renowned bureaucrat. He has served as Chief Secretary KP (1990-93), Finance Minister KP (2007-2008). He has also worked on other key posts.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued here from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Muhammad Azam Khan stated that holding of free and fair elections in the province was the top-most priority of his government. He said that all administrative support would be extended to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

He clarified that conduct of elections was the mandate of Election Commission for which every support will be extended to ensure that the mandate of people was valued. The chief minister maintained that a law and order situation existed in the province. However, every effort would be made for improving law and order and ensuring peace.

He stated that his government would take up the issue of financial pendency of the province with the federal government, especially with the prime minister of Pakistan. He further said that the National Finance Commission Award, net hydel profit and development funds of erstwhile Fata were long overdue, which were creating financial constraints for the province.

Azam Khan clarified that the incumbent government would go all out to seek the release of funds outstanding with the federal government.

He said concrete steps would be taken for the promotion of good governance in the province.

Meanwhile, the ECP received Rs18 billion for the upcoming elections in Punjab and KP. Sources said the ECP received these funds for holding timely elections in both the provinces.

However, the election body has decided to send a new estimate over the likely spending. Sources said the general election’s expenses had increased by Rs10 billion due to separate elections in two assemblies (KP and Punjab) and now the total cost of the elections as stated by the ECP would be Rs57 billion.

The ECP has also decided not to use the Result Transmission System (RTS) in the Punjab and KP elections and will be using Result Management System (RMS).

The election watchdog has also arranged phase-wise training of the staff on the RMS. The training of election staff was underway in all the four provinces and Islamabad, sources revealed.

Each batch will be trained for two days, the sources said and added that the RMS would help in timely delivery of results.