Sherry Rehman says reports claiming consensus on caretaker PM 'fake news'

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman said on Monday that reports claiming the caretaker prime minister’s name had been finalised are “fake news”, Aaj News reported.

Addressing a press conference alongside PPP Information Secretary and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Faisal Karim Kundi in Islamabad, she said: “No name [for the caretaker PM] has been shared with us … and neither has PPP made any decisions regarding this.”

“Our democratic position is entrenched in the Constitution, which is why the caretaker government should not be partisan,” she said.

The clarification was made after reports in the media claimed that the PML-N leadership intended to have Ishaq Dar as the interim prime minister.

It was reported by Reuters that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has proposed that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar lead the incoming caretaker government in order to continue economic reforms promised under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal.

The PML-N put forward Dar’s name to its coalition partners, said the sources who were not authorised to speak to the media and declined to be identified.

An agreement has yet to be reached, said one of the sources.

“We think he could be the best bet to continue with the economic reforms agreed with the IMF,” a PML-N member told Reuters.

In an appearance on a private TV channel last night, Dar was asked if he was in the running for the position of the caretaker prime minister. He responded that it would be “premature” to comment on it, adding that he did not believe in pursuing or desiring any office.

He said whoever was chosen as the caretaker prime minister would continue to have his support as a senator and leader of the house in the Senate.

In a related development, the government is reportedly planning to amend the Election Act 2017 in order to empower the upcoming caretaker government to take important decisions rather than just run day-to-day operations until a democratically elected government takes over.

“I don’t think this is something to hide from the nation. They will find out and it should [indeed] be amended,” Dar said in an interview, adding that the nation’s time should not be wasted by having the caretaker government be bogged down solely in “day-to-day” tasks.

He said it would be “inappropriate” for the caretaker prime minister to be concerned only with routine tasks. Questioned if the caretaker prime minister would have more power to take important decisions after the amendment, Dar said: “He should be [in that position to take major actions].”

Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed the government would hand over the country’s affairs to a caretaker arrangement in August after completing its tenure.