Pakistan's interim govt: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday promised his nation that government would transfer power to an interim authority in August to steer it through the general elections. In a televised speech to the country, Sharif added that his administration has removed the "landmines" that former Prime Minister Imran Khan had planted to obstruct Pakistan's interests.
“We will hand over this responsibility in August 2023 to the caretaker government,” he said. The Pakistan Prime Minister's recent statement comes a day after he said that Parliament's term would end on August 14 to make way for an interim administration and elections. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party chief Sharif, who was sworn in in April last year, also asserted that he was granted the “sacred responsibility” to run the country as the Prime Minister.
How caretaker govt is appointed in Pakistan?
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.
According to reports, it is still not clear who would be the caretaker leader, although political parties are holding talks to choose one by consensus. In his speech, Sharif said that his administration had made an effort to remove the "rubble of destruction" left by his predecessor Khan in just 15 months.
Sharif slams former govt led by Imran Khan
He said that the government had been successful in dousing the fire caused by the mismanagement, inefficiency and conspiracy by the former government. He took credit for facing some of the toughest challenges and tackling the problems and setting a direction of the economy and the country. It should be mentioned here that Imran Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was ousted from power in April 2022, after the National Assembly passed a no-confidence motion against him.
(With inputs from PTI)
