PPP denies consensus on Hafeez Shaikh for caretaker PM

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Secretary General Nayyar Hussain Bokhari on Monday denied that there was consensus on former finance minister Hafeez Shaikh’s name for the caretaker prime minister.

“Rana Sanaullah should not have talked about Hafeez Sheikh’s name,” the PPP leader said in response to a statement made by the Interior Minister yesterday.

Sanaullah says Hafeez Shaikh among candidates for caretaker PM slot

Sanaullah claimed that Hafeez Shaikh was among the candidates shortlisted for the slot of the caretaker premier. It was also earlier reported that he was one of five names finalised by the ruling coalition.

The purported list was also said to include former chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani.

Bokhari stated that it is not the prerogative of the interior minister to make comments on the names of the caretaker prime minister candidates. 

Further commenting on the recent approval of the 2023 digital census by the Council of Common Interests (CCI), Bokhari said that a constitutional amendment is needed to increase the number of seats according to the new census.

CCI: Latest census ratification sets stage for election delay

Concerns were raised over the potential delay of elections as a result of this, when the PM Shehbaz has hinted at dissolving the National Assembly on August 9.