Election Commission to pick Punjab caretaker CM today as political parties fail to reach consensus

LAHORE – Pakistan’s top electoral watchdog will meet today on Sunday to nominate the caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab, the province with the country’s half population, as leading parties fail to reach a consensus over the nominees for the coveted post.

Reports in local media suggest that Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja will chair the meeting which will be attended by all four members and the secretary ECP to finalise the names proposed by the parliamentary committee.

Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and PML-Q suggested Naveed Akram Cheema and Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera, while the opposition picked media mogul Mohsin Naqvi and former bureaucrat Ahad Cheema.

Earlier, Parvez Elahi, a close ally of Imran Khan-led PTI, announced to move court if any ‘controversial person’ was picked by the tribunal from the list of nominees shared with it by the parliamentary committee, per reports.

Ex-bureaucrat Azam Khan appointed as caretaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM

The development comes as Punjab Assembly dissolved after the outgoing CM forwarded the summary of dissolution, regardless of the governor’s decision.

As members failed to pick any name for caretaker CM in the country's most populous region, the opposition and government picked Azam Khan as KP’s interim chief minister.