ISLAMABAD - As the political situation in the country is fast-moving towards dissolution of assemblies after the verdict of Supreme Court on defecting lawmakers, the question arises whether the ruling coalition will consult the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), being the largest opposition party, for formation of any future caretaker set-up in the centre?
The question takes the centre stage when names of some technocrats for the future caretaker prime minister of the country are already circulating in some political circles. The name of former finance minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh is on the top of such a list.
At the same time, the situation became more interesting when senior PTI leader and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry claimed on Tuesday that it would be “mandatory” that PTI being the largest “political force” of the country should be taken into confidence before the formation of any interim government.
“Without taking PTI into confidence, neither any caretaker government could be formed nor the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will be able to conduct the (general) elections,” Chaudhry said while talking to Twitter. He said this in response to a tweet that named Pakistan’s former ambassador to Washington as one of the potential candidates for the future interim prime minister of the country.
Though PTI has been in the habit of making its own interpretations on legal and constitutio nal matters but contrary to the claim of the opposition party, the constitutional position is different on the formation of the future caretaker government in the centre.
If the stance of PTI is accepted that it has resigned from the National Assembly and is no longer part of the lower house of the parliament, then it is likely that former prime minister Imran Khan’s party will have no say in the nomination of future caretaker prime minister.
At present, the Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has not accepted resignations of 123 lawmakers of PTI. The party insists that it has resigned from the assembly and no longer exists as a parliamentary party in the house, according to a letter written by PTI Chairman Imran Khan to the ECP.
The Article 224 of the Constitution states that the President will appoint the caretaker prime minister in consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the outgoing NA. In case, PM and the Leader of the Opposition do not agree on the appointment within three days of the dissolution of the Assembly, they shall forward two nominees each to a parliamentary committee to be immediately constituted by the speaker NA, says Article 224-A of the Constitution.
In the present National Assembly minus PTI, as many as 20 disgruntled lawmakers of the opposition party are sitting on the opposition benches along with Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q). At the moment, the house runs without an opposition leader since then prime minister Khan was voted out in the second week of April. But there is no doubt that any member belonging to the disgruntled group of PTI will get this slot when the election of the opposition leader is held.
The election of opposition leader from the disgruntled means that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would face no hurdle in developing consensus over the name of caretaker prime minister because the group already supports the ruling coalition led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
There are no chances that there would be a deadlock over the nomination of caretaker PM as a result of consultations between PM Shehbaz and the Leader of the Opposition in the NA. It is writing on the wall that PTI would be left out of this consultative process as provided in the Constitution.
The question takes the centre stage when names of some technocrats for the future caretaker prime minister of the country are already circulating in some political circles. The name of former finance minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh is on the top of such a list.
At the same time, the situation became more interesting when senior PTI leader and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry claimed on Tuesday that it would be “mandatory” that PTI being the largest “political force” of the country should be taken into confidence before the formation of any interim government.
“Without taking PTI into confidence, neither any caretaker government could be formed nor the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will be able to conduct the (general) elections,” Chaudhry said while talking to Twitter. He said this in response to a tweet that named Pakistan’s former ambassador to Washington as one of the potential candidates for the future interim prime minister of the country.
Though PTI has been in the habit of making its own interpretations on legal and constitutio nal matters but contrary to the claim of the opposition party, the constitutional position is different on the formation of the future caretaker government in the centre.
If the stance of PTI is accepted that it has resigned from the National Assembly and is no longer part of the lower house of the parliament, then it is likely that former prime minister Imran Khan’s party will have no say in the nomination of future caretaker prime minister.
At present, the Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has not accepted resignations of 123 lawmakers of PTI. The party insists that it has resigned from the assembly and no longer exists as a parliamentary party in the house, according to a letter written by PTI Chairman Imran Khan to the ECP.
The Article 224 of the Constitution states that the President will appoint the caretaker prime minister in consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the outgoing NA. In case, PM and the Leader of the Opposition do not agree on the appointment within three days of the dissolution of the Assembly, they shall forward two nominees each to a parliamentary committee to be immediately constituted by the speaker NA, says Article 224-A of the Constitution.
In the present National Assembly minus PTI, as many as 20 disgruntled lawmakers of the opposition party are sitting on the opposition benches along with Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q). At the moment, the house runs without an opposition leader since then prime minister Khan was voted out in the second week of April. But there is no doubt that any member belonging to the disgruntled group of PTI will get this slot when the election of the opposition leader is held.
The election of opposition leader from the disgruntled means that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would face no hurdle in developing consensus over the name of caretaker prime minister because the group already supports the ruling coalition led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
There are no chances that there would be a deadlock over the nomination of caretaker PM as a result of consultations between PM Shehbaz and the Leader of the Opposition in the NA. It is writing on the wall that PTI would be left out of this consultative process as provided in the Constitution.
