Inauguration Provincial elections were held in Punjab on 25 July 2018 to elect
17th Provincial Assembly of the Punjab. The
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 184 out of total 297 direct seats in the Punjab Assembly. The chief minister candidate was announced as
Shah Mehmood Qureshi prior to the elections, though party leader of PTI and prime minister,
Imran Khan announced it to be changed to
Sardar Usman Buzdar. His nomination surprised many in the PTI and received widespread criticism as he was a lesser known figure. On 19 August 2018, he was elected as the chief minister of Punjab. He received 186 votes against his opponent
Hamza Shahbaz Sharif who secured 159 votes. He was sworn in on 20 August 2018. After assuming the office as the chief minister of Punjab, Buzdar held consultations with
Imran Khan and formed a 23-member cabinet. The 23-member cabinet was sworn in on 27 August 2018. The second part of his cabinet, consisting of 12 provincial ministers was sworn in on 13 September 2018 increasing the size of the cabinet to 35. Meanwhile
Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar was made
Governor of Punjab in Buzdar's government on 5 September 2018.
Tenure The Buzdar government introduced education measures and announced it would construct universities, continued implementation of the
Sehat Sahulat Program, began the Insaaf Medicine Card, and launched a health card for
Lahore Division, introduced a relief package and
provincial ordinance in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, announced a Rs 25bn development program for
South Punjab and initiatives for
DG Khan District. == Cabinet ==