Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah reached a breakthrough in the meeting held Sunday to finalise the caretaker premier.
The premier and the opposition leader are expected to address a press conference over matter shortly.
Speaking to media after the meeting, Shah remarked that both parties are trying their best to finalise caretaker PM. "Hopefully, there will be consensus on caretaker premier," he said, adding that they will prove that parliament is superior and that such decisions can be made in parliament.
Ahead of the meeting, Shah had told reporters that both the parties would try their best to decide on a name for the caretaker prime minister.
If today's meeting fails, again, to reach a consensus, then the only option would be to send the matter to a parliamentary committee, he added.
It was earlier reported that the government and opposition made contact on Sunday and decided to overcome the impasse over the issue.
PM Abbasi also asked Shah to fly to Islamabad for a final meeting over the matter.
Expressing his confidence in the meeting, the premier remarked that he hopes that consensus would be reached in today’s meeting. “If there is no consensus, then issue will be sent to parliamentary committee.”
So far, five meetings have been held between PM Abbasi and Shah but all of them ended in a deadlock, with the matter now expected to be taken to a parliamentary committee.
“It is Khursheed Shah’s opinion to wait till Monday [today] and if a name [for the caretaker PM] is not decided upon then the names should be sent to the committee. If the committee cannot decide the matter, it will be sent to the Election Commission,” Prime Minister Abbasi told Hamid Mir during an interview on Thursday.
The prime minister said that the reason for the deadlock was because both parties did not agree upon names for the caretaker prime minister proposed by the other. “They do not accept our three names and we do not accept the three names they [opposition] have put forward. However, a consensus can still be reached on a fourth name.”
'Wished to propose judges' names for caretaker PM'
On the other hand, Shah expressed displeasure Thursday night at being told that no judges would be named as candidates for the position of caretaker prime minister, especially considering that the incumbent government, as per sources, put forward the names of two former chief justices.
Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said his party wished to propose the names of certain judges as the caretaker PM. However, it was not clear which names he had in mind.
Earlier, sources had said the current leadership suggested names of Justices (retd) Nasir-ul-Mulk and (retd) Tassaduq Hussain Jillani — both ex-chief justices of Pakistan — whereas the PPP finalised Zaka Ashraf and Jalil Abbas Jilani as its candidates for the position.
Shah subsequently announced that he would not be meeting Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for a consultation on the name of the caretaker premier.
