Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Monday that the appointment of caretaker chief minister Punjab was made according to the constitution and law and now there would be elections and not the selection in the province. Imran Khan was worried over Mohsin Naqvi’s appointment as caretaker chief minister because this was not done by witchcraft but according to the constitution and law, she said in a tweet on Monday. She termed Imran a ‘foreign agent’ who used $3 million funds of Shaukat Khanum hospital for business purpose. She also criticized Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Chairman for imposing Usman Buzdar on the people of Punjab. The minister while rejecting the PTI’s criticism over caretaker chief minister’s appointment said now there would be elections in Punjab and no longer selection as done in 2018. Meanwhile, Marriyum said the PML-N Senior Vice President and Chief Organizer Maryam Nawaz would leave London on January 26 and reach Lahore on January 28, Saturday night at 8pm. In a tweet, the minister said that with the prayers of the people, Maryam Nawaz Sharif was returning home after recovering from surgery. The minister thanked the people of Pakistan for their prayers and good wishes. Meanwhile, Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Imran Khan was heading gradually towards a complete political failure as all his decisions were proving wrong and miscalculated. Addressing a news conference in the federal capital, the minister responded to PTI’s objections and criticism on the appointment of Mohsin Raza Naqvi as interim Chief Minister Punjab and revocation of their resignations from the National Assembly Asif in the prologue of his media briefing congratulated the interim chief minister for assuming his new responsibilities. He wished that under his leadership free and fair elections would be held in Punjab. He also welcomed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s decision being taken as per law and said that the entire process was done according to the constitution. The minister clarified that the nominees presented by PTI and others did not have good exercise as one the nominee a serving government employee and the other was a dual national. “Their vetting was not good for these nominees. So that’s why they had to face humiliation in this case,” he added. Moreover, the government’s nominees had one ex-civil servant and one media personality, he said, adding, “PTI also gave the name of another honourable bureaucrat who himself apologised to take the task. Hence the PTI’s objection on Naqvi’s appointment is a fake cry.” While clarifying the media over the allegations of plea bargain against the interim Punjab chief minister, he said Naqvi’s name was dragged into an issue of NAB plea bargain but the fact was he had taken some loan from the accused in Haris Steel Mill Case in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). “Naqvi provided a cheque with a letter during the probe and returned the loan to the accused. A few news articles erroneously reported it as a matter of plea bargain whereas one letter could not be considered as a plea bargain. And, if he has done anything illegal then we are not going to defend him,” he added. The minister said Naqvi was the coalition government’s nominee and it was his right to defend him. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said it was propitious to have a unanimous nomination for KP interim chief minister. Commenting on the National Assembly (NA) situation, he said the PTI tendered resignations at the NA after hurling abuses on the Assembly and used foul language against the Parliament which was known to all. “Imran Khan used indecent language against the NA and now they all want to return to the same platform. They (PTI) are demanding justice from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) whom they rebuked indiscriminately.” The Minister said the PTI leaders and MNAs were demanding withdrawal of their resignations, whereas they should have led the opposition earlier and avoided confrontation with the Parliament. “The PTI should stop believing that the institutions like Courts, ECP and Parliament will pay the price for their wrong decisions.” Imran Khan, he said, was a failed project and he wanted to revive himself on the political scene, adding, “I believe that he is gradually losing ground in the political arena.” He said that historically, Imran Khan always resigned after becoming an MNA. “Back in November 1, 2007, he tendered his first resignation then boycotted, later in 2013 and 2014 he first resigned and then withdrew it, and now recently in 2022 he again gave his resignation and is demanding its withdrawal,” said Khawaja Asif.