LAHORE, Dec 23: Elections for chairpersons of Punjab Assembly’s standing committees started here on Tuesday with polls for two of the bodies.

Malik Khurram Ali from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was elected chairperson of the committee on colonies and Ms Umar Farooq from the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) was voted as chairperson of the commerce and investment committee.

PML-Q MPAs Moonis Elahi and Ms Farhana Afzal are members of the commerce and investment body but they did not participate in the election process.

The agriculture committee could not elect its chairperson as the election process was postponed on the request of the PML-N, which could not finalise its candidate for the office.

There are 43 standing committees of the house and under the election schedule, chairpersons of three committees were to be elected on each working day.

On Wednesday (today), chairpersons of communications and works, cooperatives and culture and youth affairs will be elected.

The PML-N and the PPP, both partners in the coalition ruling the province, have decided under the power-sharing formula that the party occupying a certain portfolio would have the right to nominate its member as chairperson of the committee related with the department.