Durrani excuses himself from caretaker position
LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) suggested names of Dr Hassan Askari and Nasir Durrani for the position of caretaker chief minister for Punjab on Thursday.
Punjab Assembly opposition leader, Mehmmod-ur-Rasheed said the names were decided after the party’s leadership held consultations. Rasheed hoped that he would be able to discuss this matter with Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif later this evening.
Dr Hassan Askari is a renowned author and analyst with a PhD in political science from the University of Pennsylvania. Nasir Durrani is a former police officer who has served as the Inspector General of Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, soon after the announcement, Nasir Khan Durrani excused himself from the post of caretaker Punjab Chief Minister.
Earlier on Thursday, PTI constituted a committee to decide over names for the interim setup in Punjab.
PTI has announced the new names after withdrawing the name of former bureaucrat Nasir Mehmood Khosa, who was to be the caretaker chief minister of Punjab.
Earlier on Thursday, Khosa announced that he would not take charge as the caretaker chief minister of Punjab. Khosa said that he has decided not to assume charge as the caretaker chief minister in light of the recent controversy surrounding his candidature.
“I was made controversial in the media after withdrawal of support for my candidature for Punjab CM. Given the current situation, I have decided not to take charge as the chief minister,” he said.
Khosa labeled the propaganda against him as “baseless” and regretted that it would have been better if he had been consulted before his name was first put forward for the position. The caretaker chief minister should have full backing of all political parties in order to ensure transparent elections, he added. DNA/NNI
