Name your candidate: President asks Khan, Shehbaz to give names for caretaker Prime Minister

President Dr Arif Alvi has sent letters to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif to seek suggestions for the appointment of a caretaker PM.

The letter states that the caretaker PM will be appointed after the mutual consultation of the President, current PM, and Leader of the Opposition.

The letter also mentions that if consultations fail, both government and the Opposition will nominate one person for the seat to a committee comprising both Govt and the Opposition.

However, responding to the letter, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari questioned the President, saying that if there is no Assembly, then how can the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition exist name any caretaker prime minister? What would be the status of consultation between them?

Bilawal also asked the Supreme Court (SC) to stop this ‘coup’.

A day earlier, Deputy Speaker National Assembly (NA) Qasim Suri dismissed the no-confidence motion against Khan, terming it “unconstitutional”, saying that it was backed by “foreign powers” under Article 5.

Following this development, Executives [Khan and Alvi] announced the dismissal of the National Assembly under Article 58. However, Imran Khan will remain seated as PM till the appointment of a caretaker PM.