ISLAMABAD: Opposition leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said he will respond to the letter of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on caretaker prime minister in a couple of days.
“Yes, I received the letter of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ahraf the other day,” Nisar told the media on the sidelines of a conference on Thursday. The prime minister formally started the consultation process for the caretaker prime minister when he wrote a letter to the opposition leader on Wednesday seeking two names from him for the caretaker prime minister. The ruling PPP and opposition PML-N have been in an informal consultation process for the last two months over the caretaker setup. Syed Khursheed Shah of the PPP and Ishaq Dar of the PML-N have been busy in behind-the-scene talks over the matter. The National Assembly will complete it term on March 16, and under the constitution both the prime minister and the opposition leader have to agree on one candidate for the caretaker prime minister in three days after the expiry of incumbent Lower House of parliament.
If the two do not agree on one name, the matter would then go to a parliamentary committee having equal representation from the ruling parties and those in the opposition. Any disagreement in this committee will take the decision on the caretaker prime minister to the Election Commission of Pakistan, which would appoint one. Nisar said that he has been consulting with the party leadership after receiving the letter of the prime minister and will hopefully respond in two to three days with two names for the caretaker prime minister. – DailyTimes
