Shehbaz rejects caretaker PM’s nomination

Says Justice Gulzar Ahmed name cannot be agreed upon while previous set-up's status still being debated in court

ISLAMABAD:

 PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday rejected the nomination of Justice (retd) Gulzar Ahmed as the caretaker prime minister, while the Supreme Court had yet to decide on the dismissal of the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan and the dissolution of the National Assembly, describing the move as an "attempt to subvert the Constitution".

A day after Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri rejected the opposition’s no-confidence motion and President Dr Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on the advice of PM Imran, the former wrote a letter to the premier and Shehbaz to propose names of suitable persons for appointment as caretaker premier under Article 224-A(1)of the Constitution.

Interim premier Imran proposed the name of Justice (retd) Gulzar Ahmed, former chief justice of Pakistan, to be considered for appointment as the caretaker prime minister.

The president wrote another letter to Shehbaz to inform him of Justice (retd) Gulzar’s nomination and asked him to either agree with it or present his own nominee by April 6.

"If no response is received within the stipulated time, the appointment of caretaker prime minister will be processed in accordance with the Constitution," the letter read.

On Wednesday, Shehbaz wrote a letter to the president, acknowledging that he had received the letters on April 6. However, he added that the former CJP name could not be agreed upon while the previous set-up's status was still being debated in court.

"I may state at the very outset that the ruling of the Speaker regarding the Joint Opposition's Resolution for a vote of no-confidence against the prime minister is a blatant violation of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, not to mention the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007," it read.

"The entire superstructure built thereon, including all consequential notifications relating to dismissal of the Resolution, advice of the Prime Minister regarding dissolution of the National Assembly, and continuation of Prime Minister in office are all illegal, without lawful authority and of no legal effect.”

Shehbaz noted that the Supreme Court was still hearing the matter to decide the legality of the deputy speaker's ruling and the subsequent actions and orders of the prime minister and the president.

Read Caretaker PM: Speaker writes to PM, opp leader to constitute committee

He contended that the "hurried process" of proposing names for a caretaker prime minister was a "violation of the law and Constitution".

Also, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser sought four names each from interim Prime Minister Imran Khan and Shehbaz to from a parliamentary committee that would be tasked to appoint a caretaker prime minister.

The speaker wrote the letter under the powers conferred to him under Article 224-A(1) of the Constitution.

In the letter, the speaker reproduced Article 224-A (1, which states: “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.”

In response, Shehbaz stated that the start of the process to appoint a caretaker premier was not acceptable as it violated the law and Constitution.

"In these circumstances, the name of Justice (retd) Gulzar Ahmed proposed to be appointed as caretaker Prime Minister by Mr. Imran Khan Niazi is a blatant attempt to subvert the provisions of the Constitution of Pakistan and to pre-empt the decision of the Supreme Court in the above-mentioned proceedings in which all issues including the violation of Article 244 and 224-A at this stage are subjudice and as such name of Justice (retd) Gulzar Ahmed as caretaker Prime Minister is not agreed upon," he added.