Interim PM: Shah summons opposition session to nominate candidate

ISLAMABAD: On the eve of National Assembly session for the election of an interim prime minister, Opposition Leader of the house Syed Khurshid Shah on Sunday has summoned a session of opposition parties to nominate their candidate for the premiership.

The opposition parties’ session is to be held on Monday (tomorrow) at Shah’s chamber in the morning.

After a long deliberation in the party’s parliamentary meeting yesterday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had announced to support Sheikh Rasheed in the National Assembly’s voting session for new leader of the house, due on August 1.

On the flip side, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had solicited support from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s parliament members to support Shahbaz Sharif during the party’s parliamentary meeting at Punjab House on Saturday.

Sharif also announced that Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will be the interim candidate for the premiership until incumbent Punjab Chief Minister gets elected from National Assembly seat.

President Mamnoon Hussain has summoned a session of the National Assembly on August 1 for the election of an interim prime minister.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly Secretariat has announced schedule for election of new Prime Minister.

According to state radio, nomination papers can be obtained from the office of the Secretary National Assembly from 3pm today (Sunday) which will be received till 2pm tomorrow (Monday).

National Assembly Speaker, Ayaz Sadiq, will then scrutinise the papers at 3pm the same day, following which the assembly will meet to elect the leader of the House on Tuesday, August 1.

It is to be mentioned that the Supreme Court on Friday had disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from public office over long-running corruption allegations, a decision that ousted him from the premiership for the third time.

General elections are scheduled for next year, but Sharif now falls short of becoming the first premier to complete a full five-year term.