Deadlock persists on caretaker prime minister

ISLAMABAD:   Deadlock persisted as the meeting between Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi  and Leader of the Opposition ended without a decision on the caretaker prime minister here on Tuesday.

Today's was the  fourth formal meeting between the two leaders to decide the  the candidate for the top slot.

“If we fail to reach a consensus, both sides will name four-member teams to start negotiations on the issue,” he said. “We have recommended three to four names which had served as bureaucrats,” he said.

The opposition leader said that efforts would be made to resolve this issue through Parliament.

Earlier, Prime Minister Abbasi and Khursheed Shah held a meeting at PM House to finalise the caretaker premier,

The opposition leader said the prime minister would think some more on the matter, so that the finalised name is agreed upon by the government as well as the opposition.

Geo Tv quoted sources saying that former prime minister and PML-N quaid Nawaz Sharif is not in favour of appointing a retired justice or bureaucrat as the caretaker premier, and hence PM Abbasi asked for more time on the matter. 

According to a news report in this newspaper, PM Abbasi said “No” to the PPP’s panel, which included the names of Jalil Abbas Jillani, Salim Abbas Jillani and Zaka Ashraf. 

These sources said that Abbasi, while conveying his “No” to Khursheed Shah on Monday, asked the leader of the opposition either to come up with some new names or accept one of the three names recommended by him (prime minister).

The prime minister’s panel includes the names of Justice (retd) Nasirul Mulk, Justice (retd) Tassaduq Jillani and Ms Shamshad Akhtar. Khursheed Shah is expected to discuss the government’s names with the PPP’s top leadership.

Sources, however, fear that it is highly unlikely that Asif Ali Zardari would agree to any of the government’s name. In such a scenario, the matter is likely to be referred to the parliamentary committee for a decision on the matter.

If the parliamentary committee also fails to take the decision, then the matter will go the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which will finally choose one of the names as caretaker prime minister.

Under Article 224 of the Constitution on dissolution of the National Assembly or on completion of its term, or in case it is dissolved under Article 58 or Article 112, the president shall appoint a caretaker cabinet: Provided that the caretaker prime minister shall be appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the outgoing National Assembly.

If the prime minister and the leader of the opposition do not agree on any person to be appointed as caretaker prime minister, the provisions of Article 224A shall be followed. The Article 224A says: “In case the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the outgoing National Assembly do not agree on any person to be appointed as the caretaker prime minister, within three days of the dissolution of the National Assembly, they shall forward two nominees each to a Committee to be immediately constituted by the Speaker of the National Assembly, comprising eight members of the outgoing National Assembly, or the Senate, or both, having equal representation from the Treasury and the Opposition, to be nominated by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition respectively.

"The committee constituted, according to the Constitution, shall finalise the name of the caretaker prime minister within three days of the referral of the matter to it. But in case of inability of the committee to decide the matter in the aforesaid period, the names of the nominees shall be referred to the ECP for final decision within two days."