Pakistan ministers reject media reports about caretaker PM appointment

Jul 31, 2023

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 1 : Pakistan ministers rejected media reports regarding the names that were proposed for the caretaker Prime Minister’s name and said that no name has been decided yet, ARY News reported. 
Pakistan's Foreign Minister and Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, both, refused the reports and said that the candidate for the interim prime minister has not been decided yet. 
According to the sources, the PPP Chairman sought an explanation from the consultation committee regarding fake news.
Sources said that the committee submitted an explanation to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and informed him that no agreement on the caretaker Prime Minister has been made with PML-N yet. PPP is yet to suggest names for the caretaker Prime Minister, sources added.
Aurangzeb also said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has not chosen or ruled out any candidate for interim prime minister as yet, ARY News reported.
"Contrary to reports and speculation by certain sections of the media, and reported in Dawn Newspaper today Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has not chosen or ruled out any candidate for interim Prime Minister yet. The appointment of the interim PM will be carried out according to the procedure laid down in the Constitution, both in letter and spirit," the minister said in a tweet.
"PM Shehbaz Sharif will consult with all ally parties in the government and will obtain guidance from PMLN Quaid Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, to identify the most suitable candidate. After consulting with allies, the PM will consult with the Leader of the Opposition to make a decision on the matter, as per the Constitution," she added. 
Earlier today, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) decided to hold the third round of consultation regarding the nomination of caretaker setup after the assemblies dissolution.
Sources within the PPP have informed that their party has already completed the process of consultation and deliberations regarding potential names for the caretaker prime minister. They are now prepared to present their nominee for the coveted position in today’s meeting with the PML-N, reported ARY News.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz will hold a round of consultations with the opposition members over the caretaker setup on Wednesday.
Raja Riaz said he will suggest three names for the office of caretaker prime minister in his talks with the government over the matter. “These names could likely be included economist, politician and technocrat,” he added.
However, it’s worth noting that the report started making rounds that Ishaq Dar is likely to become caretaker prime minister (PM) as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) becomes active to convince coalition parties in this regard, according to ARY News.