ISLAMABAD – Imran Khan’s PTI has finalized the names of Professor HassanAskari and former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief Nasir Durrani for theslot of caretaker CM Punjab.

In a Twitter statement on Thursday, PTI said that it was proposing thenames of Nasir Durrani and Professor Hassan Askari after due consultation.

PTI has suggested the names of renowned writer and Analyst Dr Hassan AskariRizvi and Nasir Durrani as Caretaker CM of Punjab,” Fawad Chaudhry tweeted.

Yesterday, PTI reversed its decision to agree on the candidature of SaeedKhosa for the top slot in the caretaker setup, saying it was facing apublic backlash.

“We have withdrawn the name of Nasir Saeed Khosa over public backlash andcriticism from a section of media,” PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry told GeoTv.

“There has been a lot of criticism on social media about Khosa. We are apolitical party which cannot ignore the public perception,” he said.

Opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Mahmood ur Rashid said Nasir Khosawas a Nawaz Sharif’s loyalist and had served as his Principal Secretary.

On Tuesday, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the name ofKhosa in consultation with the opposition leader as per the constitution.

“Glad to announce that Leader of the opposition Punjab and I have agreed onthe name of Nasir Saeed Khosa as caretaker Chief Minister Punjab forinterim setup. Another step towards strengthening democratic process,”Chief Minister Sharif tweeted.

On the other hand, Punjab government insists there was no provision in theconstitution to withdraw Khosa’s name.

Opposition parties and political commentators have criticized PTI’sdecision-making process, saying that the move could create a needlesscontroversy and might result in delaying the elections that are scheduledto take place on July 25.