Pakistan's Punjab province to elect new chief minister

Chief executive Usman Buzdar's resignation accepted; provincial assembly session called on Saturday

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - 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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