President Alvi asks PM Shehbaz, Raja Riaz to propose name for caretaker premier by Aug 12

President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday asked outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Raja Riaz to propose a name for the appointment of caretaker premier by tomorrow (August 12).

In his letter to PM Shehbaz and Riaz, the president recalled that he had dissolved the NA on the former’s advice on Aug 9.

“Under Provision of Article 224 (1A) of the Constitution, the president appoints the caretaker prime minister in consultation with the [outgoing] prime minister and leader of the opposition in the outgoing NA.

“Under Article 224A of the Constitution, PM and leader of the opposition in the outgoing NA are required to propose the name of a person for the appointment of caretaker prime minister within three days of the dissolution of the NA,” he said.

President Alvi then directed PM Shehbaz and Riaz to propose the name of the interim premier “not later than August 12”.

The prime minister and the opposition leader began meetings to finalise the candidate for the interim premier after the dissolution of the assembly on August 9. The first meeting was held on Thursday, with six names under discussion.

The two dignitaries will meet again today to discuss selecting a name for the post.

During their meeting on Thursday, they had failed to decide on a name and decided to meet again on Friday (today). Riaz had said he would deliberate on the names the PM gave; similarly, the PM was to go through the names he gave.

Riaz refused to comment on the names being discussed in the media, saying that during the meeting, they agreed not to publicly disclose the names being considered for the top post.

Three names have been proposed: former diplomat Jalil Abbas Jilani and former chief justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jilani were nominated by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), while Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori’s name was given by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).

However, no public announcement was made by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in this regard.

The National Assembly was dissolved by President Dr Arif Alvi at midnight on Wednesday under Article 58(1) on the advice of the prime minister.

The following day, Shehbaz formally invited Raja Riaz for a meeting to discuss caretaker PM names.

The process to appoint a caretaker PM will be conducted under Article 224-A of the Constitution, which will usher in an interim government overseeing elections.