LAHORE: Senior journalist Najam Sethi has been sworn in as caretaker chief minister of Punjab on Wednesday, Dispatch News Desk (DND) reported.
Governor Punjab Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood has administered oath from him at Governor House in Lahore.
A day ago after being selected as caretaker CM Punjab, Najam Sethi said there was no need to have a huge provincial cabinet as the caretaker set up only has to fulfill a limited mandate.
In reply to a question, he said he was advised by his friends to take up the responsibility he is being entrusted with. “The friends said performing the job of a caretaker chief minister is a service to the nation and a non-political task,” he told media Tuesday.
Earlier on Tuesday, a six-member parliamentary committee of the Punjab Assembly reached a consensus to select senior journalist Najam Sethi as the caretaker chief minister of Punjab province.
The committee’s decision was announced by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and parliamentary committee’s head Rana Sanaullah while talking to the media.
The parliamentary committee reached consensus on the third and final day of consultative sessions, and announced its decision hours before the midnight deadline.
Najam Sethi has earlier served as a federal minister in the caretaker setup led by Malik Meraj Khalid in 1996.
In the committee meeting, the ruling PML-N was represented by former ministers Rana Sanaullah, Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman and Iqbal Chunnar, while the opposition PPP and PML-Q was represented by Shaukat Basra, Zulfiqar Gondal and Chaudhry Zaheer.
The PML-N proposed names of Justice (retd) Amir Raza Khan and former bureaucrat Khuwaja Zaheer while the opposition suggested names of senior journalist and political commentator, Najam Sethi, and Justice (retd) Zahid Hussain.
DND
