ISLAMABAD: Outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the National Assembly opposition leader Raja Riaz will hold another round of consultations in Islamabad today to finalize a name for the caretaker prime minister, Pakistani state media reported on Friday, a day after a meeting between the two figures ended without a consensus.
The prime minister initiated the consultation process with the departing opposition leader to fulfill the constitutional requirement for deliberation on the matter, following the dissolution of the lower house of parliament late Wednesday.
Outgoing PM Sharif and the opposition leader now have until Saturday to reach a consensus on a candidate for the caretaker prime minister’s slot after the dissolution of the National Assembly.
“The second round of consultations between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Opposition Leader Raja Riaz Ahmed to select Caretaker Prime Minister will be held in Islamabad today,” the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“The first meeting for this purpose was held in a cordial manner and they decided to continue consultation.”
Sharif assumed power in April last year after then-prime minister Imran Khan was ousted in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence.
The outgoing PM’s tenure technically expired on August 12, but he dissolved the assembly three days early to give the caretaker government 90 days to organize general elections, compared to 60 days if he were to step down on time, as per the constitution.
According to the country’s constitutional framework, the prime minister and the leader of the opposition of the outgoing National Assembly appoint a caretaker prime minister following consultations.
Article 224-A of the constitution stipulates that if the two fail to agree on a candidate within three days of the National Assembly’s dissolution, “they shall forward two nominees each to a committee to be immediately constituted by the Speaker of the National Assembly.”
The parliamentary committee will comprise eight members with equal representation from the treasury and opposition benches. It would be mandated to appoint a caretaker prime minister within three days of the matter being referred to it.
As per the constitution, if the committee fails to finalize the name during the given period, the nominees will be referred to the country’s election regulator, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which will make a final decision within two days. Until then, the incumbent prime minister will continue to hold the office.
Political dubiety in Pakistan has been increasing with every passing day, particularly since the outgoing government approved the results of a digital census on August 5.
The government’s move to approve the census results has thrown the upcoming polls into uncertainty as the ECP is now bound under the constitution to draw new constituency boundaries as per the results of the latest population count. The process could take up to six months and would mean polling day is pushed back by months.
On Thursday, Sharif said it was now up to the country’s election regulator to decide the timing of the polls.
“Now the matter is with the chief election commissioner, you know, a Council of Common Interests meeting unanimously approved the new census results,” Sharif told Pakistan’s Geo news channel.
“The election commission has to decide on this now and tell the nation. Census is a CCI subject and elections will be held according to the new census, the ECP has to make a decision on this.”
Fears persist about running the day-to-day state business in the absence of an elected government, while analysts say any delay in polls could fuel public anger.
