Almost three days before the completion of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government, President Arif Alvi assented to the premature dissolution of the National Assembly late on Wednesday. "The president dissolved the National Assembly on the advice of the prime minister under Article 58-1 of the Constitution," read an official statement issued by the President's Office.
Notably, the incumbent government was due to be completed on August 12, but Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif handed over the summary to President Alvi three days before the completion of the fiver-year constitutional term. With the dissolution of the lower house of parliament, the federal cabinet also stood dissolved.
Now, Pakistan has to find a new caretaker govt
In a statement released after the dissolution, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi said that the premier was also asked for the formation of an interim government under Article 224 of the Constitution.
"The parliamentary affairs ministry will issue a notification on the approval of the summary and the formation of the caretaker government, he added.
According to the Pakistan constitution, soon after the dissolution of the National Assembly, a process to appoint a caretaker prime minister will begin under Article 224-A of the Constitution. PM Shehbaz and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz will hold consultations to finalise the name of the interim prime minister.
If they fail to agree on a name, the Prime Minister and the Opposition leader will forward their names to a bipartisan committee to zero in on one name within a given time period. If the committee also fails, the Election Commission of Pakistan receives the same names and chooses one of them to serve as Prime Minister. The caretaker Prime Minister appoints a Cabinet to manage the government's activities, and he leaves office as soon as the newly elected Prime Minister takes the oath of office.
On Monday, Sharif held separate meetings with MQM leadership and PPP leader Yousaf Raza Gilani. MQM delegation led by Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui proposed the name of Governor Kamran Tessori for the caretaker prime minister. There are also reports that former financial expert Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh could become the caretaker prime minister.
Requirements of a caretaker government
A caretaker government, by Pakistani law, is tasked to oversee day-to-day matters important to the government but is not allowed to make major policy decisions except for urgent matters. A caretaker government is also supposed to restrict itself to routine, non-controversial and reversible matters.
A caretaker Prime Minister is expected to be an impartial person towards any person or political party. However, in some cases, it has been found that caretaker governments have overstepped their boundaries, such as in 2013, where all appointments, transfers and holdings by the interim authority were revoked by the Supreme Court.
What speculations suggest?
Meanwhile, sources in the Pakistani daily claimed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to meet National Assembly Opposition Leader Raja Riaz on Tuesday or Wednesday to “finalise” the name for the slot. He claimed a politician, who was not associated with any political party, could also become the caretaker PM.
Earlier on Monday Sharif held separate meetings with MQM leadership and PPP leader Yousaf Raza Gilani. MQM delegation led by Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui proposed the name of Governor Kamran Tessori for the caretaker prime minister.
There are also reports that former financial expert Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh could become the caretaker prime minister. However, Sanaullah said the name of Sheikh’s has not been agreed upon. According to Dawn, his name was floated as he is said to be the strongest contender and is believed to be acceptable to all mainstream political parties.
