Name of caretaker premier to be finalised today: PM Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the name of the caretaker premier will be finalised by today (August 12), ARY News reported.

The prime minister confirmed this in a conversation with journalists in Islamabad, according to state-run Radio Pakistan.

“Coalition partners will be taken into confidence over the matter before taking a final decision,” it quoted him as saying.

A day after the premature dissolution of the National Assembly, PM Shehbaz and opposition leader Raja Riaz began meetings to select a candidate for the caretaker premier after the National Assembly (NA) stood dissolved on August 9.

Both leaders are expected to meet again today for another round of deliberations.

PM Shehbaz admitted that the government was compelled to impose levy on petroleum products due to conditions of International Monetary Fund (IMF) which put financial burden on the people. “Inflation was high due to commodities’ prices in the international market and the war in Ukraine,” he added.

The prime minister and the opposition leader have to reach to a consensus for the top office of the interim setup 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.

Alvi writes letter to PM, Riaz

Earlier, President Dr Arif Alvi asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Raja Riaz to propose a name for appointment of caretaker PM by tomorrow (August 12).

In the letter, President Alvi said under Article 224A of Constitution, PM Shehbaz and Raja Riaz were required to propose name of a person for appointment of caretaker prime minister within three days of dissolution of National Assembly.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also expressed annoyance over a letter, sent by President Dr Arif Alvi, asking the premier and Opposition Leader in outgoing National Assembly (NA) Raja Riaz to propose a name for caretaker PM by August 12.

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 a 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) pitched former foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani’s name for the caretaker Prime Minister slot yesterday. 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.