Caretaker PM: Shehbaz Sharif, Raja Riaz to meet again tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz will meet again tomorrow as part of the consultation process for the selection of the caretaker PM, ARY News reported.

As per details, PM Shehbaz and Opposition Leader Raja Riaz held a consultative meeting today to nominate a suitable person for the slot of caretaker Prime Minister as per the Constitution.

Talking to the media Raja Riaz said he shared his names for the coveted slot with the Prime Minister and vice versa. He said the meeting with the Prime Minister was held in a cordial and conducive environment and they, at length, exchanged views over the subject matter.

Raja Riaz said the caretaker Prime Minister will be nominated with consensus in consultation with Shehbaz Sharif.

The Leader of the Opposition said it has been agreed that both he and the Prime Minister will ponder upon the names forwarded by both of them. He further said a second round of talks will be held tomorrow to finalize a suitable person as caretaker Prime Minister of the country.

Earlier, President Alvi dissolved the National Assembly after the prime minister forwarded a summary to President Dr Arif Alvi for dissolution of the lower house of the Parliament.

Who will be Caretaker PM?

Who will be the Caretaker PM, who will lead the country to the upcoming election, is a question running rumor mills across the country. Whether the caretaker prime minister will be a bureaucrat or a politician, is likely to be decided in the upcoming meeting of PM Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Raja Riaz.

According to government sources, a bureaucrat has been frontrunner in the caretaker prime minister’s race.

The names of Ishaq Dar, Hafeez Sheikh and Justice Shakeel Baloch among others surfaced for the interim premier’s slot. The name of Hafeez Sheikh, a former finance minister of Pakistan also being taken for a key portfolio in the upcoming caretaker setup.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) yesterday pitched former foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani’s name for the caretaker Prime Minister slot. According to sources, PPP had suggested Jalil Abbas Jilani’s name for the caretaker PM during a meeting between former president Asif Zardari and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.

Sources further said that Nawaz Sharif had no objection to Jilani’s name for the caretaker PM slot. Jilani is a cousin of PPP stalwart Yousaf Raza Gillani.

The prime minister and the opposition leader have to reach to a consensus for the top office of the interim set up within a span of three days. If they fail to reach a decision the matter will be decided by a parliamentary body within next three days, if the deadlock persists, the election commission will announce the name of caretaker prime minister in next two days.