Caretaker PM: Opposition unveils its nominees

Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid, Justice (retd) Shakirullah Jan and Rasool Bux Paleejo shortlisted.

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and its likeminded opposition groups have put an end to weeks of a guessing game about their choice for caretaker prime minister.

They have shortlisted three nominees – Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid, Justice (retd) Shakirullah Jan and Rasool Bux Paleejo – for the office.

As evident from their names, the first two nominees are former judges of the Supreme Court while last one is a Sindhi nationalist, who leads his own political party, Awami Tehreek.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, will forward the nominees to Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, who wrote him a letter on February 27 to seek his input on the interim set-up.

The disclosure was made at a news conference by Chaudhry Nisar at PML-N’s secretariat in the upscale Model Town neighbourhood of Lahore. He added that the nominees were finalised in marathon brainstorming sessions by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday.

Chaudhry Nisar said the PML-N has also shortlisted two nominees for caretaker chief minister in Punjab, which would be forwarded to Raja Riaz, leader of the opposition in Punjab Assembly, in the coming days.

About the nominees, Chaudhry Nisar said they were picked out in consultation with all opposition groups – including those not represented in Parliament. Other choices were Sardar Attaullah Mengal, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Asma Jahangir and late Qazi Hussain Ahmed.



According to sources, Achakzai was not acceptable for Baloch nationalists, Mengal himself excused, Imran Khan’s party objected to Asma Jahangir, while Qazi Hussain Ahmed died.

Chaudhry Nisar said Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had proposed two names – Shoaib Suddle and Razzaq Dawood – but later the party backed out. The new picks would be shared with the PTI through Jamaat-e-Islami  general secretary Liaqat Baloch.

Legally, a government servant cannot run for a public office two years after his retirement. But PML-N lawmaker Anusha Rehman, who is also a legal expert, said that the 1973 Constitution does not bar a retired government servant from becoming interim prime minister.

Constitutionally, an interim prime minister has to be chosen by the leader of the house and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly with consensus.

Dissolution of provincial assemblies

Chaudhry Nisar said that dissolution of the Punjab Assembly on March 16 – the day the National Assembly would be dissolved – was conditional to the appointment of neutral caretaker set-ups in Sindh and Balochistan.

Some media outlets reported on Tuesday that the PPP and PML-N have reached an agreement on the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly on the same day the National Assembly would be dissolved.

According to Chaudhry Nisar, the PPP has nominated MQM’s Sardar Ahmed as opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly to give its former ally a say in the caretaker set-up of the province. The PPP wants to do the same in Balochistan, he said and warned against such a move.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2013.