Deadlock over pick for interim PM

Abbasi angry over addition of new names; Shah wants another meeting today

ISLAMABAD: The talks for finalising the name for the caretaker prime minister will continue only if the opposition withdraws recent additions to the list of nominees, the federal government insisted on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, members of the opposition continued to press for a meeting on Thursday (today) between the PM and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.

Sources in the government said that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was willing to meet Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Khurshid Shah only if the latter agreed to withdraw Zaka Ashraf’s name.



The name was added by PPP along with Jalil Abbas Jilani.

An official close to the PM said that Abbasi had “made up his mind” to refer the matter to the speaker of the National Assembly, asking him to set up a parliamentary committee to finalise the nomination if the deadlock persisted.

“Abbasi favours a candidate who enjoys acceptability among the ranks of both the government and opposition. He is in no mood to take the blame for agreeing on any candidate whose elevation will later be criticised by opposition parties such as the PTI,” the source said.

Shah, however, wanted to resolve the issue with the PM, avoiding the parliamentary committee to be set up by the speaker.

“PPP wants to keep pushing for its desired candidates such as Zaka Ashraf. But this does not appear to be happening.”

Another source in the PML-N said that the PPP might be willing to withdraw Ashraf’s name to persuade Abbasi to meet Shah on Thursday (today), striking a consensus on candidates other than Ashraf.

Dismissing the notion that former PM Nawaz Sharif was against the appointment of a former bureaucrat or judge as caretaker PM, he said: “This is not about (appointing) former judges or bureaucrats. Our leadership is opposing individuals who are openly affiliated with rival political parties,” the insider said

However, candidates such as former governor State bank of Pakistan Dr Ishrat Hussain, former chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, ex-governor SBP Shamshad Akhtar, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dr Maleeha Lodhi and former secretary ECP Ishtiak Ahmad Khan are among candidates with wider acceptability among political parties, the source said.

On Tuesday, a meeting between Abbasi and Shah remained inconclusive as both sides failed to agree on a candidate for the caretaker prime minister.

Abbasi, it is learnt, was not happy with the inclusion of new names. He is reported to have asked Shah why fresh names were included when serious deliberations were already under way.



Constitutionally, if the PM and the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly fail to agree on the name of the caretaker PM by May 31, the matter would land before the speaker of NA who would form an eight-member parliamentary committee.

Four committee members will be MNAs and the other four will be senators: Half of them from the treasury benches and the other half from the opposition.

This panel will then have to pick a candidate as the caretaker PM within 48 hours, not later than June 2.

If the committee fails to finalise the name for the caretaker PM, the ECP will have another 48 hours to appoint the same, not later than June 4.