Days before the end of their constitutional term, the parties in the ruling coalition have reportedly finalized a list of five names for the caretaker prime minister, while not all those on the list are politicians.
Earlier, leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and its ally Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had agreed to consider a name among politicians instead of technocrats to lead the caretaker set-up.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif recently said in a statement that the PML-N and the PPP have shortlisted five names for the caretaker prime minister, all of whom are of politicians.
Khawaja Asif said that the names of the candidates will also be discussed with other political parties to build consensus, but the final decision will be taken by the coalition leaders.
It is believed that the final decision in this regard will be taken by Nawaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari and Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
Despite this situation, the names agreed between the two allies include the name of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Tasadduq Hussain Jilani.
According to a member of the federal cabinet, former Chief Justice Tasadduq Jilani’s name is among the nominees for the caretaker Prime Minister, Justice Tasadduq Jilani served as the 21st Chief Justice of the country from 2013 to 2014.
The question of who will be the caretaker prime minister has been discussed in the country’s politics for several weeks, and many names are being mentioned in this regard.
A few days ago, the name of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also came up as caretaker Prime Minister, it was being said about him that he has the confidence of both Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif, so the current Finance Minister can be the best person to run the interim setup.
There was also an impression that Ishaq Dar’s name was leaked to see the reaction of other stakeholders before being formally nominated, a move that had a negative impact when opposed by other coalition partners, especially the PPP.
The names of journalist Mohsin Baig and former finance minister Hafeez Sheikh were also echoed for the post, due to their reputation for being pro-establishment.
According to sources, consultations are going on between the government and allies for the caretaker prime minister, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari have consulted several times and the final name will be decided this week.
According to sources, the names nominated by Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari will be presented to the Prime Minister, who is likely to hold consultations with the opposition leader Raja Riaz.
