One down: Justice (r) Shakirullah withdrawn from caretaker PM nominees

PML-N now has two nominations for caretaker prime minister remaining.

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, in a letter to the Prime Minister, has revoked the name of Justice (retd) Shakirullah Jan from their previous three nominations for caretaker prime minister on Friday, reported Express News.

No explanation has been given regarding the decision.

The PML-N now have two nominations for caretaker prime minister namely Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid and Rasul Bakhsh Palejo, a veteran Sindhi politician.

The opposition leader also rejected the government nominees for the post.

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf spoke to Nisar on the phone and was informed about the opposition's decisions.

Nisar will hold a press conference at 4:00pm (today) to shed light on the situation.

When the nomination of Justice (retd) Shakirullah Jan came in on March 6, Nisar said that they were unsure whether Jan qualified, but after consulting constitutional experts, it was found that there were no clearly set qualifications for the interim PM slot.

“When we were sure that he qualified, we finalised his name.”

With Justice (retd) Shakirullah Jan's name revoked, five names remain in the caretaker prime minister nomination pool.

The five names include:

• Former finance minister Hafeez Shaikh

• Former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Dr Ishrat Hussain

• Justice (retd) Mir Hazar Khosa

• Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid

• Rasool Bux Palijo