PROFILES: PTI nominees for caretaker Punjab CM

After dissolving the provincial assembly last week, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi on Monday forwarded the names of three nominees for the caretaker CM post to Governor Baligh Ur Rehman.

In a press conference after a meeting with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Sunday, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader named Naseer Ahmad Khan, Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera and Nasir Mahmood Khosa as the government's nominees for the top spot.

So, who are the nominees? For our readers to get to know them, Geo.tv has prepared their brief profiles.

Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera

PTI's first nominee for caretaker Punjab CM is the incumbent Secretary Cabinet Division, Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera, who is due to retire on January 31.

A Harvard graduate, Sukhera joined the civil services of Pakistan in 1985 and served as secretary of trade, information, privatisation, textile, and his latest stint is as the federal secretary.

He also held the additional charge of PTV while serving as the secretary of information.

Nasir Mahmood Khosa

PTI's second nominee for caretaker Punjab CM is Dera Ghazi Khan-born Nasir Mahmood Khosa, who served as Balochistan's chief secretary for four years and as Punjab's chief secretary during Shehbaz Sharif's tenure for three years. 

He also served briefly as the principal secretary to then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 2013. Nasir is the brother of former chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa and ex-director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Tariq Saeed Khosa.

Nasir was part of the bench that chaired the infamous Panama Leaks investigations against then-premier Nawaz.

In 2018 as well, the PTI had nominated Nasir for caretaker Punjab CM but retracted later.

Naseer Ahmad Khan

PTI's third nominee for the top spot in Punjab is Uganda-born Naseer Ahmad Khan, who had a construction business in Africa.

Khan served as federal health minister under Pervez Musharraf's government of 2002. He was also Punjab's health minister from 1985 and 1988. He was elected as MPA from Narowal.

Khan's son, Rana, reportedly has decades-old ties with the Chaudhry family.