As the Pakistan National Assembly is set to dissolve today ahead of the government's stipulated tenure, outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif termed his 16-month long tenure as the "most difficult test of my life".
“I never had to go through such a difficult test before in my 38-year-long [political] career as the country was mired in a severe economic crisis, oil prices remained high and there was political chaos,” said the 71-year-old premier in his farewell remarks at the National Assembly.
Sharif also informed Pakistani lawmakers that he will send the summary for the dissolution of the National Assembly to President Arif Alvi tonight, Dawn reported. He will also meet Leader of the Opposition Raja Riaz tomorrow to finalise the candidate for the caretaker Prime Minister.
"There is time for three days, during which consultations will be done together," he said on upcoming talks regarding the caretaker premier.
He also thanked lawmakers for electing him as the PM and for supporting him throughout his tenure, while lambasting the previous government led by the imprisoned Imran Khan for "failure and negligence."
Referring to Khan's conviction and imprisonment in connection with the Toshakhana case, Sharif said that "we are not happy about it", and claimed that his government did not send "any political rival to jail or bothered them unfairly".
"And if some people have distributed sweets [to celebrate the punishment], it is not right. It is not a good tradition," he said.
He also condemned the May 9 violence that took place across the country in wake of Khan's arrest in the graft case, calling it a "black day" and a "rebellion against the army and the state". Many military installations were vandalised in the protests.
He also highlighted the challenge of flash floods, particularly affecting the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan, and stressed national unity as vital for the development of the country. He blamed the rising inflation on the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. He also blamed the previous government for taking heavy loans and spreading 'poisonous propaganda' to spread hatred.
The outgoing PM also thanked China for supporting Pakistan in the midst of an economic crisis, saying it would not have been able to reach an agreement with the IMF without Beijing's support.
“Chinese Premier Li had told me that he himself had talked to the IMF Managing Director to support Pakistan," he said. China has provided a loan of $5 million for the cash-strapped Pakistan.
Caretaker government of Pakistan
Notably, the caretaker government is appointed in Pakistan after the outgoing Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition give the nod for it. 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.
Imran won't be able to fight elections until 2028
Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistan's top electoral watchdog disqualified former Prime Minister Imran Khan for five years after his conviction and arrest in the Toshakhana case. In a notification, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman was disqualified after being found guilty of corrupt practices and his subsequent sentencing for three years, Geo News reported.
“As a consequence, Mr Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi has become disqualified under Article 63(1)(h) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan read with Section 232 of the Elections Act,2017,” the notification said.
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