- Parliamentary committees of both provinces fail to evolve consensus
- PTI says Hassan Askari was only ‘neutral candidate’ but government still refused
- Bizenjo-led Balochistan government refuses to participate in parliamentary committee meeting
LAHORE/QUETTA: The decision of caretaker chief ministers for Punjab and Balochistan will be referred to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after the parliamentary committees of respective provinces failed to evolve a consensus.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ECP spokesman said Balochistan and Punjab assemblies completed their constitutional term on 31st of the last month.
He further added that chief ministers and opposition leaders of Punjab and Balochistan could not come forward with a name after the deadline of June 3. Furthermore, the parliamentary committees have failed to finalise any names.
PUNJAB:
In Punjab, the government and the opposition sat with a six-member parliamentary committee but ended the meeting without reaching consensus.
Rana Sanaullah, Malik Ahmed Khan and Khawaja Imran Nazir represented the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the committee while former opposition leader Mehmoodur Rasheed, Sibtain Khan and Shoaib Siddiqui were present from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) side.
The candidates finalised for the position by PTI were Ayaz Amir and Hassan Askari Rizvi, while the PML-N put forth the names of former naval chief Mohammad Zakaullah and Justice (r) Sahir Ali.
Speaking to the media after the parliamentary committee meeting, PTI leader and former opposition leader Mehmoodur Rasheed said that the government didn’t agree on Ayaz Amir, while the opposition rejected Zakaullah.
“We rejected the name of the former chief of Pakistan Navy as he has no administrative experience and we want someone to overlook the province, not a marine exercise,” Rasheed said.
“Defence analyst Hassan Askari was the only neutral candidate, we tried very hard to convince the government to agree. But the government refused to budge from their stance.
“Dr Askari not only criticises PML-N’s policies but PTI’s as well,” Rasheed upheld.
However, the former opposition leader lamented that owing to PML-N’s “inflexible” attitude the matter will now be decided by the ECP.
“We will forward a summary to ECP and they will nominate a caretaker chief minister within two days,” he concluded.
However, PML-N’s Malik Ahmed Khan, while speaking to the media after the meeting, alleged that the two names proposed by PTI were “not neutral”.
“It is important to nominate a neutral person to the post,” he added.
“PML-N suggested names of neutral candidates but the matter will now be decided by the ECP,” Khan further said.
BALOCHISTAN:
In Balochistan, while the Abdul Quddus Bizenjo-led provincial government refused to participate in the parliamentary committee meeting, the opposition met and deemed the meeting inconclusive. Former CM Sanaullah Zehri and Dr Abdul Malik Baloch also attended the meeting.
Former CM Zehri said, “We are acting according to the Constitution, but the former government is creating hurdles.”
“Bizenjo wants to make amendments to the Constitution which will make him chief minister for life. Balochistan will not entertain any more jokes,” he added.
Previously, the matter of caretaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) CM was referred to the ECP after a deadlock on the matter. The ECP chose opposition’s Justice (r) Dost Muhammad Khan for the slot. CM Khan took the oath on Wednesday and will be forming a “small” cabinet for his “short stint in the government”.
