The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has confirmed that it has forwarded a list of seven candidates for the slot of an interim prime minister to fellow opposition parties, and said it was willing to accommodate any preferences or changes.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told the media on Thursday that veteran Baloch nationalist leader Sardar Attaullah Mengal was among the nominees.
Although he did not disclose any other names, The Express Tribune on Thursday printed that, according to sources, aside from Mengal, the list includes the names of former chief of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Qazi Hussain Ahmed, retired judge Nasir Aslam Zahid and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmoud Khan Achakzai. Also included on the list, according to sources, was the name of the chief of a Sindhi national party, Awami Tehreek, Rasul Bux Palejo.
Nisar, however, dropped hints about the other nominees by identifying them by their profession. “Two are retired judges, one is a lawyer and three are politicians,” he said, without giving any details.
Under the 20th Constitutional Amendment, the leaders of the caretaker set-up are supposed to be chosen through a consultative process between the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.
He added that the PML-N had shared the names of the candidates with fellow opposition parties for further scrutiny before formally forwarding two of them to the government for final consultations.
Nisar also said his party would take into confidence all groups in the opposition irrespective of their representation in parliament.
He said the nominees list was shared with the JI, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakistan Peoples Party-Sherpao (PPP-S), National Party (NP), a likeminded faction of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI).
He said all the parties except for the PTI had responded positively. The PTI, Nisar added, was opposed to a couple of names in the list and had forwarded the names of two contenders– Dr Shoaib Suddle and Abdul Razzaq Dawood. A spokesperson for the PTI, however, contradicted Nisar’s claim, telling the media that the party was never consulted by the PML-N.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 14th, 2012.
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