Shehbaz, Arif Alvi lock horns on caretaker PM appointment

President Arif Alvi wrote a letter on Friday to outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to appoint a caretaker Premier by Saturday (today), rekindling the uneasy relationship between the two.

Dawn has reported that PM Shehbaz is not happy with the letter, questioning why President Alvi is in a hurry. He also said that the President might not have read the constitution.

According to Dawn’s sources, delay in nominating caretaker PM can be chalked up to opposition leader Raja Riaz, who is insisting that his candidate be appointed caretaker PM instead of agreeing to the names suggested by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

After a meeting was held between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Raja Riaz on Saturday to discuss the name of the upcoming caretaker prime minister, Riaz gave three names for caretaker Prime Minister to Sharif. The Premier consulted with his allies last night about the three names.

One of these three names is Sadiq Sanjrani, but so far the other two names are not known.

On the other hand, PML-N head Nawaz Sharif wants former finance minister Ishaq Dar or former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abassi as caretaker PM.
However, insiders alleged that Mr. Riaz was taking orders from another power corridor and insisted on the name of Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. On Friday, Mr. Sanjrani called Mr. Riaz as well as Mr. Dar and Ahsan Iqbal.