ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Monday finalised names for next caretaker prime minister and Punjab chief minister to be shared with the relevant quarters soon.
One nominee of PTI for caretaker prime minister has served the cabinet of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf. Another PTI nominee has also worked as adviser to the prime minister for around four years during General (r) Pervez Musharraf’s regime.
According to a senior PTI leader, three names each have been finalised for caretaker PM and Punjab chief minister. The names for caretaker prime minister are former chief justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jilani, economist Dr Ishrat Hussain and industrialist Abdur Razzaq Dawood.
Former police officer Tariq Khosa, economist Dr Salman Shah and banker Shahid Kardar have been nominated by PTI for caretaker Punjab chief minister.
PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi would present three names in his meeting with Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Khurshid Shah.
Constitutionally, PTI is not a stakeholder in the process of appointment of next caretaker prime minister as the sitting prime minister has to appoint caretaker PM in consultation with the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.
If both fail to reach consensus, Election Commission of Pakistan has to decide the next caretaker PM. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has already held first round of talks with Khurshid Shah in this connection.
Justice (r) Tassaduq Hussain Jilani has served as the chief justice of Pakistan from December 12, 2013, to July 5, 2014. Dr Ishrat Hussain has worked as the State Bank of Pakistan governor and dean of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi.
Abdur Razzaq Dawood is an industrialist and has been commerce minister in military ruler Pervez Musharraf's cabinet from 1999 to 2002.
Similarly, senior PTI leader and Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed will present the names of the party’s nominees for the next caretaker Punjab CM to Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif. In Punjab, PTI is a stakeholder in the process of the appointment of caretaker CM under the Constitution. PTI has said it will consult the other opposition parties of the province before dispatching these three names to Sharif.
Tariq Khosa who is among PTI’s nominees for caretaker chief executive of Punjab has also served as Balochistan inspector-general of police, the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and retired as Anti-Narcotics Division secretary. He is a brother of Justice Asif Saeed Khosa who was the head of the five-member bench of the Supreme Court that disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Papers case.
Dr Salman Shah has served as caretaker finance minister in the cabinet of then caretaker PM Muhammadmian Soomro and also remained adviser on finance to premier Shaukat Aziz.
Shahid Kardar is the son of former cricketer Abdul Hafeez Kardar and has been a former governor of the State Bank.
The present government will conclude its five-year term on May 31, after which the caretaker setups will be installed at the federal and the provincial levels to hold next general elections which are expected in July or in the start of August.
IMRAN MUKHTAR
