Caretaker premier: Politicians blow final chance, leave task to ECP

Election commission has 48 hours to agree on a candidate.

ISLAMABAD:

With the eight-member parliamentary committee unable to break the deadlock for the third consecutive day on Friday, the selection of a caretaker prime minister will now be undertaken by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The task of choosing a caretaker premier from the four nominees put forward by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will be taken up by the ECP on Saturday (today), comprising the chief election commissioner and four members — one from each province.

Under the constitutional provisions, the commission has 48 hours to agree on a candidate.

The PPP had proposed the names of Dr Ishrat Husain and Justice (retd) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso. PML-N’s nominees are Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid and Rasool Bux Paliejo.

During Friday’s proceedings, two main objections were discussed — one was related to Dr Husain and the other was on Zahid. PML-N members argued that the former was a Green Card holder of the United States and preference should be given to someone who holds only a Pakistani passport.



On the other hand, former law minister Farooq H Naek objected to Zahid’s nomination, saying that he was a Provisional Constitution Order judge and it was against the terms and reference of the committee to appoint such a person as the interim prime minister.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain blamed former leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for throwing a spanner in the works of the parliamentary committee.

Although he did say early in the day that “they were holding hope” when asked about the possibility of breaking the deadlock, Hussain’s tone changed in the evening when there was no consensus.

“For the first time, politicians had time to make a political decision, but we have not been able to do that,” Hussain, who was also a member of the committee, told reporters. Naek pointed out that the 20th constitutional amendment also could not provide a solution in case of a deadlock like the one faced by the panel. After holding two inconclusive sessions earlier on Friday, the committee announced that they would be meeting again at 9pm after discussing the matter with their respective party leadership. But there was still no breakthrough apparently due to the stalemate over the caretaker set-up in Punjab.

A high-level meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was also held on Friday evening amid the deadlock.

A source privy to the development claimed that Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani also made a short visit to the Presidency.

According to Advocate Salman Akram Raja, a legal expert, once the ECP picks a caretaker prime minister, any aggrieved party can approach the Supreme Court under Articles 184 (3) and 199 of the Constitution.

Earlier, Chaudhry Nisar had also said no one should object to the Election Commission deciding on the caretaker premier as it was legal under the Constitution.

“Hopefully the issue of the caretaker prime minister will be settled by the parliamentary committee. However, if the issue reaches the Election Commission then it should not be a matter of concern, as this is also part of the constitutional process,” he said.

Meanwhile, government officials also questioned Chaudhry Nisar’s meeting with committee members which they said was the ultimate reason for the committee’s failure to reach a consensus.

Chaudhry Nisar alleged that the nominees proposed by Premier Ashraf paid a visit to the Presidency to lobby for being named the caretaker prime minister. He also claimed that he could provide evidence in this regard.

However, Khursheed Shah, another member of the parliamentary committee, rubbished the allegations, saying he could prove the former leader of the opposition wrong under oath.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2013.