Pakistan: Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar named caretaker PM ahead of elections

Senator Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has been picked as caretaker Prime Minister. After much deliberation, Pakistan decided that Senator Kakar, a lawmaker from Balochistan, would be the caretaker PM as their final round of consultation concluded on Saturday. Speaking to the media after the meeting, opposition leader Raja Riaz said, “We decided that the interim prime minister would be from a smaller province”. This decision came after President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif forwarded a summary to him for dissolution of the lower house of the Parliament. Before the meeting, President Alvi wrote a letter to the PM, reminding him and the opposition leader to suggest a “suitable person” for the interim premier by 12 August (Saturday). In a letter to both PM Shehbaz and Riaz, the president informed them that under Article 224A they are supposed to propose a name for interim prime minister within three days of the dissolution of the National Assembly. As per the country’s Constitution, if the prime minister and the opposition leader fail to agree on the name within three days, the matter goes to the parliamentary committee for the appointment of a caretaker PM. As per the law, the premier and the opposition leader will send their respective preferences for the coveted post to the parliamentary delegation. The parliamentary committee will then have to finalise the name of the caretaker prime minister within three days. However, if the committee also fails to reach a consensus on the name, then the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will pick the caretaker prime minister within two days from the names proposed by the opposition and the government. With inputs from ANI