ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has unanimously appointed Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi as caretaker Punjab chief minister.

After the failure of the government and the opposition to reach a consensus on a caretaker chief minister, the ECP appointed Naqvi as the interim chief executive for Punjab. The ECP took this decision in a meeting held on Sunday with Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja in the chair.

According to a notification issued by the ECP, “Pursuant to the proviso of Clause(3) of Article 224-A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and as a result of detailed deliberations made on January 22, the ECP has unanimously decided to appoint Syed Mohsin Rana Naqvi as the caretaker chief minister, Punjab with immediate effect.”

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The ECP’s appointment comes after a parliamentary committee constituted by the Punjab Assembly speaker failed to build a consensus on a candidate for the slot of the caretaker chief minister.

Following the no consensus between the government and the opposition, the matter was sent to the ECP under Clause 3 of Article 224-A of the Constitution.

Names of four nominees were received by the electoral watchdog for selecting one name for appointment as Punjab chief minister for the interim period. It is pertinent to mention here that the outgoing Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi had proposed the names of Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera and Naveed Akram Cheema while opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz had forwarded the names of Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi and Ahad Khan Cheema.

Naqvi is a journalist by profession. He was born in Lahore and moved to the US for higher education, where he was associated with CNN and was made the regional head when he returned to Pakistan.

At the age of 30, Naqvi founded a local media network in 2009 and now owns six news channels and a newspaper. He is also very popular in political circles and has strong relations with the leading political figures of the country.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023