Caretaker Chief Ministers (CM) of Punjab and Balochistan will be taking oath on Friday to assume interim offices.
Punjab’s caretaker CM Professor Hasan Askari , appointed earlier on Thursday by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is expected to take oath at 11 am at Governor House, Lahore.
Whereas, newly appointed Balochistan’s interim CM Alauddi Marri will be taking oath at 5 pm during a ceremony at Governor House, Quetta.
Earlier on Thursday, ECP had named Askari and Marri as their nominated caretaker chief ministers, as the parliamentary committees failed to reach a consensus.
ECP’s nomination of Askari, an analyst and professor gained much criticism as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) expressed reservations against ECP’s decision. PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah, after Askari’s appointment opposed ECP’s appointment, arguing that the candidate was too vocal against PML-N and that the party doesn’t expect that Askari can ensure free and fair elections.
However, Askari after his appointment, had remarked that “No party should worry over the transparency of the upcoming election.”
Similarly, Balochistan’s ruling party and the opposition had failed to reach a consensus over the caretaker’s finalization, which the parliamentary committee also failed to do so. Hence the matter was handed over to ECP, to finalize the nomination.
On Thursday ECP named Alauddin Marri to be the interim CM for Balochistan.
Marri, reportedly was recommended by the former provincial government that had previously suggested name of Sardar Shaukat Popalzai for the post.
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