No consultations to be held on Punjab caretaker govt: Rana Sanaullah

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said Friday that no consultations will be held on Punjab caretaker government and the decision will be made by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), ARY News reported.

He made the statement after holding a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore. He slammed the decision of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its ally Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) to dissolve the Punjab Assembly.

He said that PML-N will not hold any consultations for the caretaker set-up in Punjab and the decision will be taken by the ECP for the caretaker chief minister (CM) and the cabinet.

The interior minister said that PML-N tried its best to stop PTI and PML-Q from dissolving the Punjab Assembly but they fulfilled their ‘ego and stubbornness’.

To a question, he said that PML-N is fully prepared to enter the election phase.

On the other hand, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) started consultations for the caretaker set-up in Punjab after sending a summary to the governor for the dissolution of the provincial assembly.

PTI chief Imran Khan chaired a consultative session of the central leadership to finalise the names for the caretaker set-up in Punjab. The session was attended by Fawad Chaudhry, Farrukh Habib and central leaders.

The political party will get opinion from the party’s vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi via telephone call.

It was learnt that PTI will forward the names for the Punjab caretaker set-up to Chief Minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi. After receiving recommendations from PTI, Pervaiz Elahi will begin the constitutional process of consulting the Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz from tomorrow.

Earlier, PTI Vice President Fawad Chaudhry urged the governor to immediately notify the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly, adding that the opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz is being contacted to seek names for the caretaker government.

“[The Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly] Hamza Shehbaz is being contacted to seek names for the caretaker government. We are hoping that impartial names will come forth to hold free and fair elections.”

He said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan had scheduled to arrive in Lahore today but he could not reach here owing to bad weather. “KP CM has also prepared the summary for the dissolution of the provincial assembly.”

Fawad said that the order regarding the KP Assembly’s dissolution will also be issued soon.