The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was challenged by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the Supreme Court on Friday for designating media magnate Mohsin Naqvi as the interim chief minister of Punjab.
The PTI filed the petition on its behalf as a political party, and Asad Umar did the same as the party’s secretary general. The party led by Imran Khan argued with the highest court to declare Mr Naqvi’s appointment announcement unlawful.
The Punjab interim chief minister Mohsin Naqvi, the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments, the Election Commission of Pakistan, the Speaker of the National Assembly Raja Parvez Ashraf, the Leader of the Opposition Raja Riaz, and the federal government have all been named as people who responded in the case by PTI.
After the opposition and the PTI-led Punjab government could not put together an interim setup in the nation’s largest province, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday confirmed media tycoon Mohsin Naqvi as the interim Punjab chief minister.
The PTI has also questioned Raja Riaz’s selection as the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly as well as the selection of Pakistan’s Election Commission members in the petition.
“It is also stated that the caretaker chief minister ought to possess certain but necessary intellectual and relative experience as well as characteristics which is to ensure that the appointed caretaker chief minister, is better equipped with the expertise required for the office of the chief minister. This is unfortunately not the case herein. Equal or better-suited candidates were available and have not been considered consciously. An individual without any experience of political, constitutional, or bureaucratic set-ups has been selected/appointed for this position for reasons which are not available nor discernible. The “decision” has not been made available, as none is present in writing. However, a conclusion thereof has been communicated vide notification No F.2(5)/2023-Cord- dated 22.01.2023 (‘Impugned Notification’) by the Respondent Commission. The same is patently unlawful and smacks of sheer arbitrariness.”
The petition claims that Naqvi regrettably lacks the necessary political, administrative, and legal experience to guarantee the rule of law, the operation of governments, the efficiency of bureaucracy, and/or compliance with legal requirements and/or the Constitution.
