LAHORE: The opposition sent its nominations for the parliamentary committee to decide caretaker chief minister to Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan late on Wednesday evening as he warned that in case of its non-cooperation, he would forward to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) only the names given by the provincial government.

The speaker waited for the nominations from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in his chamber till office hours but in vain.

He told the media before leaving for his official residence that he would not contact the opposition to seek the nominations, rather they themselves would have to discharge their duties.

He said the government had already submitted three names – Mian Aslam Iqbal, Raja Basharat and Hashim Jawan Bakht – and that he would forward to the Election Commission only the nominations made by the government for the caretaker chief minister if the opposition did not make its recommendation for the parliamentary committee in time.

Under the law, if the chief minister and opposition leader could not reach a consensus on the caretaker set-up, a parliamentary committee comprising three MPAs each from both sides will try to develop a consensus for selecting one of the nominees for caretaker CM already made by the government and the opposition leader.

The parliamentary committee has three days for the negotiations. If the panel also fails to develop a consensus then the speaker sends the list of the nominees to the Election Commission, which selects one of the nominees within two days.

A PML-N leader tells Dawn that the names for the parliamentary panel have been sent to Mr Khan at the latter’s residence late on Wednesday evening. They included Special Assistant to PM Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, former provincial minister Malik Nadeem Kamran and Pakistan People’s Party parliamentary leader Syed Hassan Murtaza, he says.

The ruling alliance has proposed former Punjab chief secretary Nasir Mahmood Khosa, serving bureaucrat Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera, and Naseer Khan, reportedly a relative of Chief Minister Parvez Elahi, while opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz has nominated Special Assistant to PM Ahad Cheema and owner of a media house Mohsin Naqvi for the slot of interim chief minister.

Meanwhile, Raja Basharat and Mian Aslam Iqbal called on Mr Elahi here on Wednesday and discussed the prevalent political situation in the province and caretaker set-up.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2023