A Controversial Pick

Appointment of Mohsin Naqvi as Punjab caretaker CM has added fuel to an already explosive situation

LAHORE: Despite his credentials as a journalist formerly associated with CNN and the owner of a media group, the appointment of Mohsin Raza Naqvi as Punjab caretaker chief minister has whipped up a controversy which may overshadow the credibility of upcoming elections in the province.

A five-member committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on January 22 unanimously nominated Naqvi as Punjab caretaker chief minister amid protest by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

Earlier, a parliamentary committee, formed by the Punjab Assembly speaker to appoint the caretaker chief minister, had failed to reach a consensus within the stipulated time period.

Outgoing chief minister Parvez Elahi had proposed the names of Sardar Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera and Naveed Akram Cheema, while leader of the opposition Hamza Shehbaz had floated the names of Mohsin Raza Naqvi and Ahad Khan Cheema for the coveted position.

Interestingly, when the matter landed at the ECP, the polls supervisory authority picked one of the two people nominated by Hamza Shehbaz, to the protest of the PTI and the PML-Q, which were ruling the country’s biggest province till dissolution of the provincial assembly at the insistence of PTI chief Imran Khan.

Naqvi is known for his close links with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.

He is apparently also on cordial terms with the military establishment as evidenced by a video clip in which he could be seen coming out of the Holy Kaaba along with army chief General Syed Asim Munir.

Outgoing CM Elahi, who is the brother-in-law of Shujaat, is also closely related to Naqvi

Naqvi is married to one of the daughters of slain cop Ashraf Marth. Nighat, Ashraf Marth’s widow, is the sister of Elahi whose other daughter is the wife of  Shujaat’s son MNA Salik Hussain.

However, the appointment of Naqvi as the caretaker CM did not please Elahi.

“How can a person I am related to be appointed caretaker chief minister? We will approach the Su-preme Court regarding the ECP’s decision,” Elahi tweeted. He also accused Naqvi of striking a plea bar-gain deal with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Haris Steel case.

Rejecting the appointment, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said the ECP had “never failed to disappoint.” He also urged party workers to prepare for large-scale protests.

PTI leader Asad Umar also described Naqvi’s appointment as a mockery of the Constitution. “The PTI will challenge the decision and protest against it,” he said in a tweet.

Some constitutional experts also raised question marks over the appointment arguing that Naqvi had struck a voluntary return deal with NAB. As per the Supreme Court judgments, such persons cannot hold public offices, they claim.

The NAB case

In May 2010, Naqvi submitted a request to the NAB chairman— along with an affidavit duly attested by an oath commissioner—for voluntarily returning Rs3.5 million acquired from Sheikh Muhammad Afzal for business purposes.

“With my free consent and without any coercion, duress or undue influence, I voluntarily come for-ward and admit that Sheikh Muhammad Afzal delivered me an amount of Rs3.5 million during May-June 2008 for the purpose of my business.

“As I now understand that I acquired the said amount as a consequence of the offence of corruption and corrupt practices committed by Sheikh Muhammad Afzal, I voluntarily offer to return the said amount to NAB,” he stated.

Background

Mohsin Naqvi was raised by his maternal uncle after the death of his parents at a young age.

A promising student, he attended Crescent Model School and then Government College Lahore be-fore moving to the United States where he got a chance to work for CNN, first as an intern.

After 9/11, he covered the US led war on terror in Afghanistan as a CNN journalist and also served as the media outlet’s regional producer and bureau chief in Pakistan.

As CNN’s man in Pakistan, he played a number of roles. When a journalist from CNN wanted to come to Pakistan to interview top politicians, Naqvi would make all the arrangements.

His polite and friendly behavior helped him to get into the good books of influential people. During that period, he became close to a number of people including Asif Ali Zardari.

In 2009, he formed the City Media Group and started his own TV channel–City42–which proved to be a big success. He gradually expanded his empire by launching a national news channel, a number of local news channels, and a local newspaper.

He currently owns City021, City041, UK44, Rohi News, 24 News and a local newspaper City42.

A widely travelled man, Naqvi has been regularly sending his employees on exposure trips to the US, England and Turkey. He has signed MoUs with world’s leading universities. He has also been hosting students’ delegations of these universities at his media group headquarters.