PM, NA opposition leader to meet today in final push for caretaker premier

• The National Assembly is set to dissolve today (Wednesday).
• PM, opposition leader  required to deliberate on caretaker PM name.
• Riaz says he completed delibrations with his allies on interim PM. 

Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz has said that he will call on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif today (Wednesday) to hold a consultation on the name of the caretaker prime minister.

The incumbent government is completing its constitutional term in a few days and PM Shehbaz Sharif had already announced that he would send advice to the president for the dissolution of the National Assembly on August 9.

Under the Constitution, the prime minister and opposition leader are required to hold consultations on the names of the caretaker prime minister.

When asked if he has proposed the names for the interim prime minister to the PM, Riaz said he has not met the premier yet.

Riaz is Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) dissident parliamentarian and became the opposition leader with the support of other rebel MNAs after the former ruling party resigned en masse in April last year.

Responding to another question that the name for interim PM had already been finalised by ruling PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, the opposition leader responded: “Say whatever you want, I have my own opinion.”

He went on to say that he had completed deliberations with his allies on the name of the caretaker PM and he is scheduled to meet the prime minister today.

“My three names are 90% finalised,” he said without elaborating further.

PM likely to send NA dissolution advice today'

Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz is expected to send his advice to President Arif Alvi for the dissolution of the National Assembly today, sources told The News.

A day after, on Wednesday, the president may dissolve the assembly, the source confided to the publication as the federal ministers hint at months of delay in elections due to a fresh delimitation exercise that has become mandatory after the approval of 2023 census results.

The dissolution of the National Assembly will pave the way for the commencement of a caretaker government. One name, which consistently remained under discussion for the last few weeks, is that of Dr Hafeez Shaikh.

Shaikh has been the finance minister of the Imran Khan government. Before that, he was the top finance wizard of the last PPP government.

Dr Hafeez Shaikh has also been the favourite of the establishment.