Pakistan: Media executive Mohsin Raza Naqvi appointed Punjab’s caretaker chief minister
Naqvi's name was proposed by Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz
Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) under the Article 224A of the Constitution of Pakistan has appointed Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi, a media executive and a nominee of Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz as Caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab.
According to a notification issued by the commission late Sunday, the ECP has unanimously appointed Mohsin Naqvi for the coveted post.
The ECP was required to make a decision over the name of the caretaker Chief Minister by 10:00 p.m Pakistan Standard Time (PST) on Sunday.
The commission in a hurriedly called meeting fulfilled the requirement an hour before the deadline.
Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi is the CEO of a private TV channel and has been criticized by Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for his reportedly close affiliation with the former President and leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari.
The outgoing Chief Minister of Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has already announced he would not accept the name chosen by the ECP.
Both the outgoing Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader were required to propose two names each to the ECP to choose one of them for the post of interim Chief Minister of Punjab.
The other name proposed by the Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly was that of Ahad Cheema while the outgoing chief minister Pervaiz Elahi had proposed names of Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera and Naveed Akram Cheema.