Pakistan's Punjab province to elect new chief minister
Chief executive Usman Buzdar's resignation accepted; provincial assembly session called on Saturday
ISLAMABAD
The governor of Pakistan's largest province Punjab accepted on Friday Chief Minister Usman Buzdar's resignation and called a session of the provincial assembly to elect a new chief executive.
According to a notification, Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar summoned the Punjab Assembly session on Saturday, 11 a.m. (0600GMT).
Buzdar, from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), stepped down on Monday as Prime Minister Imran Khan, who faces a no-confidence vote in the parliament on Sunday, nominated Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the head of coalition partner Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), as the new chief minister.
In return, the PML-Q, which has five seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, pledged support for Khan against the no-trust motion.
Elahi, who served as the Punjab chief minister from 2002 to 2007, is currently the provincial assembly speaker.
With 183 members, the PTI holds a majority in the 371-seat assembly. Any party needs simple majority – support of 186 members – to form a government.
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