Hassan Askari named Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan in a meeting on Thursday decided the name of Prof. Hassan Askari as the Caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab, ARY News reported.

After failure of the opposition and the government to strike a consensus over the name for the caretaker chief minister of Punjab, the election commission decided the name of Hassan Askari as interim chief minister of the province.

The election body nominated Askari to lead the caretaker setup in the province after the government and opposition members failed to reach over a consensus on the matter.

The election commission selected the name of Hassan Askari from the four names proposed by the government and the opposition.

After withdrawing the name of former bureaucrat Nasir Mahmood Khosa for caretaker chief minister of Punjab, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has proposed two new names for the slot.

The parliamentary panel comprises of the equal number of members from the government and opposition failed to decide the name of the interim chief minister, consequently the matter reached to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

A committee of the commission headed by the Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Sardar Raza nominated Prof. Hassan Askari as the Caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab with a consensus in a meeting today.

An official of the ECP while responding to a question about the caretaker setup in Balochistan, said that the commission will announce the name of the interim chief minister of the province tomorrow (Friday).

Prof. Hassan Askari Rizvi

Hassan Askari Rizvi is a political scientist who wrote over civil-military relations in Pakistan and is noted for his work in comparative politics, nuclear weapons, and the country’s domestic policy.

He is professor emeritus of political science at the Punjab University, Lahore as well as a media personality regularly appearing in various television channels to comment on country’s politics and current affairs.