Nawaz to decide Punjab CM name soon: Azam Tarar

LAHORE: PMLN leader Azam Nazir Tarar said on Sunday that party supremo Nawaz Sharif would decide who would be the next chief minister of Punjab and an announcement in this regard would be made soon.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the PMLN was consulting the allies for deciding the name of future chief executive of the biggest province of the country.

He said the PMLN had emerged as the single largest party in Punjab, securing 137 seats. Six to seven constituencies were won by its allies, including the PML-Quaid and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) and more than 25 independent candidates. He claimed the PMLN seats in the Punjab Assembly would increase to 160.

He regretted that an attempt was being made to cast doubts on the election results. A party had reservations over the election results, but the same party was celebrating the election outcome in KP [Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa] and claiming that people had voted for them. He said a specific party had spread lies so much that everyone had started to believe it to be the truth.

“We respect the mandate of all parties and expect the same spirit from others,” Azam Tarar said, adding that PMLN’s central leaders like Khawaja Saad Rafique and Rana Sanaullah were also defeated in the elections.

He said in the Centre, the PMLN had also emerged as the largest party and with the help of allies, it would save the country and heal the wounds of the common man. Tarar said that no single party had the mandate to form the government and a coalition government would be formed. “We want to form a strong alliance and move towards prosperity by bringing all the units together.”

To a question about the PMLN leadership meeting with the MQM delegation, he said it was a goodwill gesture on the part of MQM and further talks would take place after a couple of days.

In another media talk, PMLN Punjab leader Azma Bukhari said people expressed full confidence in the PMLN in the elections. She said independent candidates were not a party, the PMLN was a party and that was why a large number of elected independents were joining it.

She said in the elections, people voted for the agenda of development and expressed full confidence in the PMLN. She added that on the election day, wi-fi was operational in the entire country and fake Form 47 were circulated on the social media. The PMLN did not believe in politics of lies and mischief, she added.