Imran Khan rejects Naqvi as he takes oath as caretaker Punjab CM

Lahore: PTI Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday took exception to the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan regarding nomination of media tycoon Mohsin Naqvi as caretaker Punjab Chief Minister, saying that ‘the election watchdog helped reduce Pakistan to Banana Republic making democracy as a joke.

The PTI Chief also announced to hold a presser on Monday (today) to expose what he said ‘entire farce’.

The reaction came few minutes before Punjab Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman administered oath to Mohsin Naqvi as caretaker Punjab.

محسن رضا نقوی Mohsin Naqvi نے پنجاب کے نگران وزیر اعلی کا حلف اٹھا لیا گورنر پنجاب بلیغ الرحمان نے حلف لیا pic.twitter.com/Wqd3hHmjef

— Raza Butt 🎙️ (@SocialDigitally) January 22, 2023

Taking to Twitter, Imran Khan wrote, “PMLN has history of selecting their own umpires but it's incredible how ECP has selected a sworn enemy of PTI as Caretaker CM Punjab - a post meant for a non partisan person. Naqvi also made a voluntary return deal with NAB. SC in suo moto case no 17/2016 declared that in a case of voluntary return a person cannot hold any public office at federal or prov level nor in any state org. ECP has helped reduce Pak to a Banana Republic making our democracy a joke. I will be holding a presser tomorrow to expose this entire farce.

PMLN has history of selecting their own umpires but it's incredible how ECP has selected a sworn enemy of PTI as Caretaker CM Punjab - a post meant for a non partisan person. Naqvi also made a voluntary return deal with NAB. SC in suo moto case no 17/2016 declared that in a case pic.twitter.com/nrCCM7igzB

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 22, 2023

Chief Election Commissioner sikandar Sultan Raja chaired the meeting held to deliberate on the proposed names for the caretaker Punjab Chief Minister.

The latest reports suggested that the ECP notified Mohsin Naqvi as caretaker Punjab CM and sent  his name to Punjab Governor.

PML-Q leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi also rejected the nomination of Mohsin Naqvi and announced to approach the top court to challenge the ECP’s decision.