'PML-N okayed caretaker PM after decision on upcoming govt'

ISLAMABAD: Hinting at a ‘deal’, Awami National Party (ANP) senior leader and Senator Omar Farooq on Monday claimed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) approved the name of caretaker prime minister after ‘decision on the upcoming government’.

“There must have been an understanding about upcoming tenure that PML-N had made a compromise on the name of caretaker prime minister”, ANP leader Omar Farooq said while exclusively talking to ARY News’ Head of Investigations, Naeem Ashraf on Monday.

Farooq said ‘files’ against Pakistan People’s Party leaders might be reopened in the interim setup but PML-N is looking ‘safe’, he added.

Omar Farooq also claimed that PML-N would want to expand the interim setup until Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan.

He expressed regret that the PML-N had made decisions against democracy and the interests of the people for the sake of coming back into power.

We should not have been part of such a government; instead, we should have opposed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government at that time, the Senator said.

The ANP leader stated whatever is happening with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf today will also happen with them (ANP) tomorrow. ANP leader said that some parties’ hunger for power results in ‘deals’ that ultimately weaken the Parliament.

ANP’s leader further stated that the PDM government did nothing for the people in the past 16 months.

Farooq added that timely elections are a constitutional right in the country, and if elections are not held on time, it will be another major issue.