Punjab caretaker CM: Khosa excuses, Durrani refuses

[ahlam1399]

LAHORE: The PTI, after taking a U-turn over the issue of Punjab caretaker chief minister, on Thursday suggested the names of Dr Hassan Askari and Nasir Durrani for the slot, but just hours later Durrani refused to accept the offer.The latest developments came as Nasir Khosa earlier in the day announced that he would not take charge as the caretaker chief minister a day after the PTI withdrew his name as the candidate for the post after entering into an understanding with the Shahbaz Sharif-led provincial government.The PTI had to face embarrassment a couple of days ago after it withdrew the name of Khosa, which was recommended by the Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Mehmood-ur-Rasheed on the instructions of the party chairman, Imran Khan. The PTI core committee meeting held on Wednesday rejected the name of Khosa and Mehmood was asked by the party chairman to recommend fresh names at which Mehmood had also lodged a serious protest before the leadership. Imran later formed a four-member committee, which finalised the names of Askari and Durrani on Thursday.Instead of holding a press conference, Mehmood this time round released the fresh names through his media cell. According to his spokesperson, the names for the caretaker chief minister were sent to the Chief Minister’s Secretariat through courier service and said efforts were made to contact Shahbaz Sharif, Rana Sanaullah and Speaker Rana Iqbal, but none of them could be contacted. The efforts to contact the PML-N leadership were under way till the filing of this report. Later, Mehmood said any summary not having his signature would be unconstitutional, adding the PTI would move the court, if the name of Khosa was approved without his consent. He said the law minister had no knowledge of the law and the consultation with the opposition leader is mandatory.Askari is a renowned political and defence analyst as well as the writer of several books on military and defence affairs. He has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and also associated with the University of Punjab. On the other hand, Durrani is a former police officer who has served as the IGP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Earlier, Khosa told Geo News that he had decided not to assume charge as the caretaker chief minister in the 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 termed 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.The saga didn’t stop there as Durrani too excused from undertaking the responsibility. In an exclusive conversation with Geo News, he cited poor health as the reason for his decision to withdraw his candidature and added that he had informed both PTI and PML-N of his decision.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/_Ljc4dNtaCE

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