Talks underway to appoint technocrat or politician as caretaker prime minister: Sanaullah
Celina Ali
Islamabad: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday that talks were underway about whether a bureaucrat or a politician should be appointed to the coveted slot of caretaker prime minister.
“In case there’s a consensus that a politician can be appointed, then it can either be Ishaq Dar or any other politician from any party,” Sanaullah told media.
However, he added, the government would try to appoint a person acceptable to all sides. Sanaullah also tried to clear air about PML-N’s nomination of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for the slot of caretaker prime minister, arguing that that no one in the government proposed his name.
“Neither was Ishaq Dar’s name suggested, nor was it rejected. It can be a rumour,” the interior minister remarked despite the fact that many PML-N leaders had made the claim a week back.
Earlier this week rumours that Dar was a possible candidate for the post of interim CM began to circulate. However, neither Dar nor any other Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader rejected these rumours.
In fact, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that the finance minister could be appointed to the post.
It was only later that Defence Minister Khawaja Asif denied the reports, with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) also against his appointment.
During the show, Sanaullah also spoke about the return of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, who has been residing in London since 2019, to Pakistan.
The minister said people had a wrong assumption that the incumbent government has the authority to allow Nawaz to stage a comeback in politics.
“This is completely wrong. The government does not have this right,” he said, pointing fingers at the Supreme Court.
Sanaullah said the top court had disqualified Nawaz through an order no one accepted. He blamed the judges for being “biased” against the PML-N supremo.
The minister further added that PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz had secured acquittals in her cases through courts, and Nawaz would do the same once he returned.
“Nawaz Sharif will soon return. He will first secure interim bails and then secure acquittals. All the political restrictions imposed on him through conspiracies will end.”
Parliament has passed a law that limits the disqualification of a parliamentarian to five years, benefiting Nawaz, who was barred for a lifetime from running for office.
