Outgoing Pakistan premier Shehbaz Sharif and Opposition Leader Raja Riaz have failed to come to an agreement on a name for the country's upcoming caretaker Prime Minister in their first round of discussions on Thursday since the dissolution of the National Assembly.
Both leaders have yet to reveal the identities of the names in the run for the post of caretaker PM. Riaz told media that consultations regarding the interim PM were held in a cordial manner on Thursday, Geo News reported.
"It has been decided that another round of consultation will be held tomorrow (Friday). Till a name is not finalised no name will be revealed," said the opposition leader, adding that he has shared the names of his candidates with Sharif.
He also exuded confidence that the PM and he would be able to develop a consensus over the appointment of the caretaker 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.
The PM Office of Pakistan also confirmed another round of talks to be held between Sharif and Riaz on Friday.
According to Geo News, three names have been proposed, former diplomat Jalil Abbas Jilani and former chief justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jilani proposed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).
Abdul Basit, a former Pakistani Ambassador to Germany and High Commissioner to India, claimed that Pakistan could name Jilani as the new interim PM of the country. Jilani, who served as the foreign secretary of Pakistan, has a long experience in handling foreign offices. Also, he served in several other countries as Pakistan’s ambassador including the United States.
The National Assembly was dissolved on Wednesday three days before the incumbent government's tenure. With the dissolution of the lower house of parliament, the federal cabinet also stood dissolved.
"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.
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