KARACHI: Former chief secretary of Sindh Fazlur Rehman was sworn in as caretaker chief minister of the province on Saturday as the consultation process to pick a caretaker CM remained marred by confusion in Punjab and Balochistan.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa even the parliamentary committee constituted to pick a consensus candidate for the post failed to do so and decided to forward the matter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair administered the oath to Mr Rehman at the Governor House in front of a select audience in which outgoing chief minister Murad Ali Shah was also present.

In KP consensus on interim chief minister eludes parliamentary committee that decides to forward matter to ECP; no headway in consultation process in Punjab, Balochistan

After the swearing-in ceremony, Mr Rehman told reporters that he did not foresee any delay in or postponement of coming general elections scheduled for July 25. “I don’t have any fear or knowledge (about any delay in the elections). It (the elections) will be held on time,” he said.

The caretaker chief minister said he was thankful to the outgoing chief minister and the opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly who showed trust and confidence in him by nominating him as caretaker chief executive of the province.

Talking about his cabinet, Mr Rehman said he would appoint ‘a balanced cabinet’ early next week.

Mr Rehman was presented a guard of honour when he arrived at the CM House. He assumed his office and was briefed by his principal secretary.

PML-N floats two more names for Punjab caretaker CM

In Lahore, following the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)’s failure to come up with a party’s consensus candidate for the office of caretaker chief minister of Punjab, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has also floated two more names.

The PML-N on Saturday conveyed names of two more candidates — former director general of the Intelligence Bureau Aftab Sultan and former naval chief Muhammad Zakaullah to the PTI-led opposition in Punjab.

However, sources claimed, Mr Sultan has refused to accept the offer of becoming a candidate for the most important slot in the province.

The PML-N’s already announced candidates are: retired Justice Sair Ali and former inspector general of Punjab police Tariq Saleem Dogar.

The PTI has floated the names of four candidates — Engineer Yaqoob Tahir Izhar, former parliamentarian and columnist Ayaz Amir, political analyst and human rights activist Dr Hasan Askari and former bureaucrat and analyst Orya Maqbool Jan.

However, PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry later said that Mr Jan was not the party’s candidate.

A meeting between former opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed and former Punjab Assembly speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal on Friday had decided that Mr Rasheed and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif would meet on Sunday (today) to reach a consensus on a candidate.

Final round of talks likely in Quetta today

In Quetta, the final round of talks is expected between Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo and former opposition leader in the provincial assembly Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal on Sunday (today) to finalise the name of caretaker CM of the province.

As per the constitutional rules, the chief minister and the opposition leader have to select a candidate for the post of caretaker CM within three days of dissolution of the assembly. If they fail to do so, the matter is to be forwarded to a parliamentary committee and the situation in Balochistan seems to be moving towards the second option.

In the last session of the Balochistan Assembly, Mr Bizenjo had said he would convince the opposition to accept a final name or forward the matter to the parliamentary committee till June 3.

Sunday (today) is the last day for both sides to emerge with a final name or the matter will go to the parliamentary committee.

The outgoing provincial government has shortlisted the names of Prince Ahmed Ali, Advocate Kamran Murtaza and Allauddin Marri for the post of caretaker chief minister but the opposition is still insisting on the nomination of Ashraf Qazi or former speaker of the Balochistan Assembly Aslam Bhotani.

Despite a couple of meetings, CM Bizenjo and former opposition leader Ziaratwal have failed to reach a consensus on the issue.

In Peshawar, the final meeting of the parliamentary committee failed to reach a consensus on nomination of caretaker chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to a press release issued by the KP chief minister’s spokesman Shaukat Yousufzai.

He said the committee decided to forward the matter to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Mansoor Malik from Lahore and Saleem Shahid from Quetta also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2018