Pak rivals to strike deal on caretaker premier
16 July 2012 2:03 AM GMT
Pakistan’s ruling PPP and main opposition PML-N are close to striking a deal on naming a consensus caretaker Premier, with top lawyer Asma Jahangir’s candidature ‘under serious consideration’, and finalising a date for polls to be held before year-end, a media report said on Sunday.
Amidst intense speculation regarding the outcome of the confrontation between the government and the judiciary, which may see a second Premier losing his post, Pakistan’s two largest political parties ‘are quietly but rapidly finalising an agreement,’ The Express Tribune quoted its sources as saying.
Abdullah Hussain Haroon, Pakistan’s envoy to the United Nations, and leading lawyer Asma Jahangir, ex-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, are being seen as candidates for the post of caretaker Prime Minister in a set-up that will oversee the election, the report said.
Jahangir’s candidature is ‘under serious consideration’ while Haroon is being seen as a ‘soft, back-up option,’ according to the report. The two parties have been holding discussions in private though they continue to criticise each other in public and in the media.
The discussions between the PPP and PML-N will be crucial for the first transition from one popularly elected government to another in Pakistan’s history.
The daily said key sources in the top leadership of both parties had confirmed that talks on caretaker Prime Ministerial candidates and a date for the election were in ‘advanced stages.’
The Supreme Court has set 25 July as the deadline for Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to approach Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
Amidst intense speculation regarding the outcome of the confrontation between the government and the judiciary, which may see a second Premier losing his post, Pakistan’s two largest political parties ‘are quietly but rapidly finalising an agreement,’ The Express Tribune quoted its sources as saying.
Abdullah Hussain Haroon, Pakistan’s envoy to the United Nations, and leading lawyer Asma Jahangir, ex-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, are being seen as candidates for the post of caretaker Prime Minister in a set-up that will oversee the election, the report said.
Jahangir’s candidature is ‘under serious consideration’ while Haroon is being seen as a ‘soft, back-up option,’ according to the report. The two parties have been holding discussions in private though they continue to criticise each other in public and in the media.
The discussions between the PPP and PML-N will be crucial for the first transition from one popularly elected government to another in Pakistan’s history.
The daily said key sources in the top leadership of both parties had confirmed that talks on caretaker Prime Ministerial candidates and a date for the election were in ‘advanced stages.’
The Supreme Court has set 25 July as the deadline for Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to approach Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
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