LAHORE, Jan 24: The Pakistan Muslim League-N has called for removal of all provincial governors to ensure free‚ fair and transparent elections.

The party has also rejected a proposal to extend the election process from 60 to 90 days made in the so-called Islamabad Declaration signed by the government with Dr Tahirul Qadri.

All provincial governors must be removed before the general election because the PML-N has no trust in the governors having political affiliations, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told newsmen at Raiwind on Thursday.

About political affiliation of the governors, he said the governors of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa belonged to the MQM, PML-Q and PPP, respectively.

About the Punjab governor, the PML-N leader said that because Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood’s sons had joined the PPP and they would contest the elections, the Makhdoom could not remain impartial and could help his sons win the polls. He criticised the Punjab governor for announcing a decision about bifurcation of the province and accused him of infringing upon the right of the Punjab Assembly by pledging to take decisions about creation of south Punjab province.

He said the PPP was not sincere about the new province and was using the issue as an election stunt.

Seeking to limit the election process to 60 days, he said his party was of the opinion that the minimum possible time should be given for electioneering as extending the period to 90 days would be a joke with the nation.

Answering a question, he said the government and Dr Qadri had indulged in mudslinging against each other during the drama staged in the name of ‘saving the state’.

Chaudhry Nisar also said that negative games were being played in Sindh and Balochistan and if voted to power his party would take important decisions to improve the situation in Karachi and Quetta.

He said Saifuddin Khosa, a son of Punjab chief minister’s senior adviser Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa, had joined the PPP in defiance of his father.

When asked about the defection of Raja Afzal, a PML-N stalwart from Jhelum, he said the former MNA ditched the party because he had been denied ticket for the next polls.

He said the influence of the Raja family in Jhelum politics had be overestimated, adding that Saif Khosa and Raja Afzal would realise their mistake after seeing the election results.

Meanwhile, TV channels quoting sources in the PML-N said the party had shortlisted six names for the post of caretaker prime minister. They are: Justice (retd) Ajmal Mian, Justice (retd) Shakirullah Jan, Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid, rights activist and former SCBA president Asma Jehangir, veteran Baloch politician Sardar Ataullah Mengal and Pakhtunkhawa Milli Awami Party leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai.

According to the TV reports, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman would propose a name for the caretaker premiership in a few days.