The formal round of consultation between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz on the nomination of the Caretaker Prime Minister will begin today (Thursday).
The consultation took place last night after President Arif Alvi approved the summary sent by Prime Minister Shehbaz after the dissolution of the 15th National Assembly of Pakistan.
“The President dissolves the National Assembly on the advice of the Prime Minister under Article 58-1 of the Constitution,” read an official statement from the Office of the President on X, formerly known as Twitter, late Wednesday.
In a letter, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has formally invited Riaz to meet for consultation.
In his letter, the Prime Minister said that the President has dissolved the National Assembly under Article 58(1) of the Constitution and he is ready to fulfill his constitutional obligation to appoint a Caretaker Prime Minister.
The appointment of the Caretaker Prime Minister will be done under Article 224-A of the Constitution, which will usher in a caretaker government to oversee the elections.
Prime Minister Shehbaz and Riaz will hold consultations to finalize one of the proposed names for the interim prime minister.
It should be noted that three names have been proposed, including two nominations – former diplomat Jalil Abbas Jilani and former Chief Justice of Pakistan Tasadeq Hussain Jilani, who was joined by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Sindh Governor Kamran Tesori. Sent by the National Movement. Pakistan (MQM-P).
However, no public announcement has been made by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in this regard.
The names of former finance minister Ishaq Dar, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former caretaker prime minister Muhammad Mian Soomro are also under consideration.
If the prime minister and the opposition leader fail to agree on the name within three days, the matter will go to the parliamentary committee to appoint a caretaker prime minister.
Under the law, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition will send their respective priorities to a parliamentary committee.
The parliamentary committee has to finalize the name of the caretaker prime minister within three days and if it too fails to reach a consensus on the name, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will select the caretaker prime minister within two days. Names proposed by the opposition and the government.
By law, elections must be held within 90 days of the dissolution of parliament, but the outgoing government has already warned they could be delayed.
After the Council of Common Interests (CCI) approves the new census results, the ECP needs to conduct fresh delimitation – an exercise that will take three to four months.
