Confusion engulfed the list of candidates suggested by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for caretaker chief minister of Punjab on Friday, as hours after the opposition in Punjab Assembly nominated hardliner Orya Maqbool Jan among two others for the slot, PTI denied that the columnist’s name was forwarded by the party.
Soon after Mehmood-ur-Rasheed presented the names of Orya Maqbool Jan, Yaqub Izhar and Hassan Askari for the interim CM, party spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter to announce the candidates which did not include Orya’s name. “PTI has proposed three names to be appointed as caretaker Punjab CM. 1) Hassan Askari 2) Ayaz Amir 3) Yaqub Izhar … agreement on one name is expected by Saturday evening,” Chaudhry wrote on Twitter. Later he told a private TV channel that Rasheed may not have seen the list of names that was given to him and that there was some confusion. “We did not present different names … the party had decided on three names and communicated to Mehmood-ur-Rasheed but maybe there was some communication gap,” he said.
“He [Rasheed] was in a meeting with the speaker so maybe he did not see the names which were suggested to him. Party had suggested three names that were communicated to me and I put forward before you,” the spokesperson said. “Orya Maqbool Jan’s name was also discussed but the names that were approved by the four-member committee formed by the chairman and core group were the three names [that I shared],” he added.
Responding to a question if Rasheed was absent from the decision-making committee, Chaudhry said the former was in Lahore while some party members who had decided on the candidates were in Islamabad. “Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jahangir Tareen, Shafqat Mehmood and Aleem Khan jointly decided the names. Rasheed was also part of this group and I tweeted the names which had a majority consensus,” he added. “There is a clear communication gap and it needs to be improved,” he admitted.
However, soon after the party spokesperson’s statement regarding the ‘confusion’, Rasheed told a private TV channel that he had not used his own authority to suggest Orya’s name.
“The party had agreed on the candidates who were announced for the caretaker chief minister, which included Orya’s name,” he said, and later also shared a video message in which he reiterated that Orya’s name was, in fact, part of the candidates who PTI had proposed for the position. “During meeting with former speaker of Punjab Assembly, the caretaker chief minister issue was discussed and I conveyed the two new names on behalf of the party which included Orya Maqbool Jan and Yaqub Izhar,” he said. “Later on, name of Ayaz Amir was also conveyed by the party but by then my meeting with Rana Iqbal had concluded and I had also already talked to the media,” he said.
“Now, three names have been conveyed to the former speaker, which include Ayaz Amir, Orya Maqbool Jan and Yaqub Izhar. Hasan Askari’s name was earlier suggested,” Rasheed said. “On Sunday, we will forward all of these four names so we can have a broader aspect and it is easier to choose a candidate. The final roundup will be on Sunday,” he added. While announcing the candidates earlier, Rasheed said the party had earlier suggested Professor Hasan Askari’s name and two new names were proposed by the party on Friday. “Two new names, Orya Maqbool Jan and Yaqub Tahir Izhar – CEO of Izhar Construction – have been suggested from our side,” he had said while addressing the media earlier in the day. Refusing to share the candidates suggested by the government, Rasheed advised the media to inquire a government spokesperson for its candidates.
Published in Daily Times, June 2nd 2018.
