NA speaker writes letter to Imran Khan, Shahbaz for caretaker PM decision

• Asad Qaiser seeks names of four members from both the leaders for the formation of parliamentary committee.
• The speaker has written these letters under powers assigned to him as per Article 224A-1 of the Constitution.
• The eight-member parliamentary committee will be formed by the NA speaker.

ISLAMABAD: Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser Wednesday wrote letters to Prime Minister Imran Khan and Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif for the appointment of a caretaker prime minister.

The speaker has written these letters under the powers assigned to him per Article 224A-1 of the Constitution.

Names of four members have been sought from both the leaders for the formation of the parliamentary committee.

Earlier this week, President Arif Alvi had sent letters to PM Imran Khan and Shahbaz Sharif to seek suggestions for the appointment of a caretaker prime minister for Pakistan; however, both leaders failed to reach a consensus.

According to NA rules, in case the two politicians can't reach a consensus over one name within three days, each one of them will send two names to the parliamentary committee responsible for appointing a caretaker prime minister.

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The eight-member parliamentary committee, comprising National Assembly and Senate members, with equal representation from the government and Opposition, will be formed by the NA speaker.

“224A (1) In case the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National Assembly do not agree on any person to be appointed as the caretaker prime minister, within three days of the dissolution of the National Assembly, they shall forward two nominees each to a Committee to be immediately constituted by the Speaker of the National Assembly, comprising eight members of the outgoing National Assembly, or the Senate, or both, having equal representation from the Treasury and the Opposition, to be nominated by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, respectively,” Qaiser wrote in the letter.

Shahbaz will now nominate four members from the Opposition and PM Imran Khan will nominate an equal number of members from the treasury benches.

Shahbaz disagrees with PM Khan's suggestion

Meanwhile, Shahbaz informed President Alvi that the Opposition does not agree with the suggestion of appointing Justice (retd) Gulzar Ahmed as the interim prime minister and that the process for the appointment is issued by the head of the state was a “violation of law and Constitution”.

In a letter, Shahbaz confirmed to the president that he had received his April 4 message regarding the appointment of a caretaker prime minister.

The PML-N president informed President Alvi that the speaker’s ruling on April 3 on the no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan was a “blatant violation of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan" and the "Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business” of the lower house.

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“The entire super-structure built thereon, including all consequential notifications relating to dismissal of the Resolution, advice of the Prime Minister regarding the dissolution of the National Assembly, and continuation of the Prime minister in the office are all illegal, without lawful authority and of no legal effect,” wrote Shahbaz.

The Opposition leader also informed President Alvi that the Supreme Court is holding suo motu hearings on the National Assembly deputy speaker’s ruling.

He also shared the apex court’s ruling, stating that “any order passed by the prime minister and the president shall be subject to the order of the Court”.