LAHORE: Opposition Leader Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed has refused to consult the Punjab Assembly speaker and the law minister about caretaker chief minister and insisted that he will discuss the matter with the chief minister alone.

Mr Rasheed said the PTI parliamentary party meeting had completed consultations with the opposition parties and decided to take the chief minister into confidence since it was a constitutional matter to install a caretaker CM.

He said he had received a message from the chief minister to meet the speaker and the law minister but he declined. He said the chief minister was bound to consult the opposition leader while making a decision to nominate a caretaker CM, who would hold the next general elections.

“I will present different names for caretaker CM in a meeting with Shahbaz,” he said.

Mr Rasheed also said Shahbaz could not conceal facts while criticising Imran Khan. Brushing aside chief minister’s criticism against the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said Mr Sharif should explain about his tall claims of ensuring uninterrupted power supply. He said the chief minister could neither install big power projects in Punjab nor “drag” Zardari on roads. He said the CM was also silent on the corruption of his elder brother.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2018