As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led Punjab government and the opposition failed to reach a consensus on a caretaker chief minister, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday appointed Mohsin Raza Naqvi as caretaker Punjab chief minister. He was sworn in Sunday night in a ceremony at the Lahore Governor House.
Punjab governor Balighur Rehman administered the oath to Naqvi.
The decision was made during a meeting held with Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja in the chair after considering all legal and constitutional aspects. The matter was sent to the electoral body under Clause 3 of Article 224-A of the Constitution.
“The Election Commission of Pakistan has unanimously decided to appoint Syed Mohisn Raza Naqvi as Care-Taker Chief Minister Punjab with immediate effect,” the ECP said in a notification issued in this regard.
During the meeting secretary election commission briefed the participants on the four names proposed for the caretaker chief minister.
Following ECP’s decision Naqvi also took to Twitter to express his gratitude for his appointment as caretaker CM.
Earlier, the outgoing Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi had proposed the names of Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera and Naveed Akram Cheema while opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz had forwarded the names of Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi and Ahad Khan Cheema.
Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi was born in Lahore and received his early education from Crescent Model High School and latter he attended Government College Lahore. Naqvi moved to the United States for higher education.
During his stay in Miami, Naqvi was associated with CNN as a reporter. After his higher education, he returned to Pakistan and was made the regional head of CNN. In 2009, Naqvi founded a district-level channel in Pakistan.