Tareen, CM discuss S. Punjab secretariat location.

LAHORE -- Within two days of holding of the south Punjab province executive committee meeting that could not decide about the location of south Punjab sub-secretariat, senior PTI leader Jahangir Tareen on Monday discussed the issue with Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.

The Punjab government in its meeting had sought proposals from the committee members, including Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, as there was no decision whether the sub-secretariat would be established in Bahalwapur, Multan or Lodhran.

Since Mr Tareen is lobbying for establishment of the sub-secretariat at Lodhran, he met Mr Buzdar at the chief minister office and discussed the progress on the issue.

A source privy to the executive committee meeting told Dawn that the members wanted the Punjab government to itself take the decision on the location of the sub-secretariat, but the chief minister decided that various proposals presented by the executive committee would be presented to Prime Minister Imran Khan after reviewing political, administrative and constitutional aspects of the matter.

The source said another suggestion floated at the meeting was that the government should hold a 'secret ballot' among the legislators from south Punjab to decide matter, but the idea could not motivate the chief minister to take an executive decision in this regard.

Finally, the source said, the committee members empowered the chief minister to take a decision. However, the chief minister preferred to involve the the prime minister. The source said the decision was pending since this government came into power 18 months ago.

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