KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has submitted a resolution in the Sindh Assembly condemning the appointment of Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi as caretaker chief minister of Punjab.

The resolution was filed in the assembly’s office by PTI’s parliamentary party leader Khurrum Sher Zaman.

He stated that the purpose of a caretaker set-up was to hold fair and free elections and that PTI recommended appropriate names for the non-partisan slot of caretaker CM of Punjab.

The resolution alleged that Mr Naqvi was not a neutral person, as “he played a significant role in the regime change operation that ousted former prime minister Imran Khan in April 2022”.

It identified him as a “key facilitator who was being used by Asif Ali Zardari and Muhammad Nawaz Sharif”.

Mr Sher Zaman said he believed that the appointment reflected the “continued bias” of the Election Commission of Pakistan against Mr Khan and the PTI.

In the resolution, he questioned the integrity and ability of the ECP to hold free and fair elections anywhere in the country.

The PTI leader alleged that Mr Naqvi had done a “voluntary return deal with the National Accountability Bureau”, which disqualifies him from being the caretaker CM.

Quoting a Supreme Court decision, he said that the in a case of voluntary return, a person cannot hold any public office at the federal or provincial level nor in any state organisation.

He demanded in the resolution that Mr Naqvi be resigned or removed as the caretaker Punjab CM.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2023