LAHORE/ISLAMABAD - SAJID ZIA, MAQBOOL MALIK AND MUBASHIR HASSAN - The PML-N seeks caretaker prime minister to be from a smaller province and for this, it has launched efforts to develop an all-opposition consensus.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has displayed the electoral rolls and with it, the activity for the next election has begun to pick up momentum. The next step of the process is nomination of a caretaker PM and setting up an interim government.
This has to come about through consultation of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf with Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Ch Nisar Ali, and it is likely to take place soon as initial informal discussion between the two parties, the PPP and the PML-N, has already taken place.
PML-N sources say that they will soon start formal deliberations at the party level on the name of the interim prime minister. However, they say, the party leadership desires picking up a neutral, impartial and non-partisan person from a smaller province, particularly Balochistan or Sindh. And, the ground is being prepared on the opposition side for such a caretaker PM, they added.
The party believes that this will lead the people of smaller provinces to have more trust in the election process and results, besides ensuring their optimum participation, which would strengthen the democratic contour of the next government as well as go a long way to help end the restive situation in Balochistan.
The party is in touch with the opposition parties in the parliament and it is set to contact soon those outside the parliament. PML-N sources say the names for the interim PM discussed in their internal meetings from Balochistan include former PM Mir Zafar Ullah Khan Jamali, former presidents of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Ali Ahmad Kurd and Justice (r) Tariq Mahmood, and the nationalist leader Sardar Ataulla Mengal.
From Sindh, the names of former judge of the Supreme Court Nasir Aslam Zahid and former Chief Justice of Pakistan Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqi were being considered. Justice Siddiqi was fielded by the PML-N for the slot of president against Asif Ali Zardari while Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid was one of the three men named by the party for the CEC office.
Ali Ahmad Kurd and Justice Tariq Mahmood earned a good name for their exemplary role in the lawyers’ movement for the restoration of the independent judiciary. Justice Mahmood has also served as ECP member but he quit that office and judgeship in 2001 in protest against the referendum of Pervez Musharraf which he deemed as unconstitutional and said the commission cannot share responsibility in this illegal act.
Sardar Ataullah Mangal is a veteran leader of Balochistan and his son Akhtar Mengal has also served as Balochistan chief minister during the Nawaz Sharif government. Akhtar, these days, is noted for his extreme views. If name of Sardar Ata Mengal is floated for caretaker PM, it will certainly underline the PML-N’s intentions to convey a good message to the disgruntled elements of Baloch and can help in bringing them in the mainstream of politics.
On the side of the PPP-led coalition government, the names of former SCBA president Ms Asma Jahangir and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon have come to surface. Asma, also a human rights activist, is an internationally known figure. Sources say the said names were shared through informal means with the PML-N which however expressed certain reservations on them.
The sources say that the PML-N will reach out to every party, including the PTI, to develop consensus on the caretaker name of PM as it aspires to ensure acceptance of the interim set up for every political party.
The PML-N which has been voicing for early election since May last, however, at present is quite ill at ease from the hiccup created by the government on furthering talks on the future caretaker setup, although both sides have been in close contact through their representatives till start of the last month. After breakdown of the back channels contacts, concern is growing in the party that PPP-led government may go to prolong the election time by one year from the fixed tenure. And the party is also geared to face the situation if the government went to delay the elections.
Source in the party say if no response came from the government side by August 14, the PML-N is quite poised to take a hard line against the government to press it for elections within the current year. Sources say the long march is also one of the options which the party leadership may adopt in this regard.
When Jamaat-i-Islami Secretary General Liaqat Baloch was asked about the formal JI-N League meeting on the caretaker PM and protest against the government if elections are deferred, he said his party and the PML-N have not discussed these issues as yet, though both sides have unanimity of views on many issues as they keep in touch informally.
Baloch said the JI wants the interim PM to be chosen after a national consensus and he or she must be totally impartial as well as well-versed in state affairs and electoral matters. He appreciated the consensus developed on the name of the Chief Election Commissioner, but said that mere CEC is not sufficient to ensure fair and transparent elections but consensus also needs to be evolved on how to check the establishment and other forces which have traditionally been influencing the election process and the result. Baloch said that the caretaker PM could be from any province but he must be impartial.

N for caretaker PM from smaller province