A second meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Leader of the Opposition Khursheed Shah to finalise the name of the caretaker premier ended inconclusively today as they failed to agree on a candidate for the post, according to media reports.
The current government led by Abbasi’s Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz (PML-N) is set to end its five-year term on May 31. The general election is expected to be held in the last week of July.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) yesterday forwarded a report to President Mamnoon Hussain, suggesting that he could choose either July 25 or July 27 as the day of the polls.
The caretaker prime minister will lead the interim set-up and attend to day-to-day matters of governance.
Abbasi and Shah met earlier on May 18 but that too remained inconclusive as both sides failed to finalise a candidate before Abbasi left for Turkey.
Another meeting will be held with Prime Minister Abbasi tomorrow or on Thursday after to finalise the caretaker premier, Shah, who is from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) told the media after the meeting, which took place at the PM House.
Shah said no consensus could be reached during the meeting. “The prime minister said that the names forwarded by our side are good, but so are the names forwarded by their side,” Shah said.
“The government has not insisted upon any name as yet,” Shah was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper.
“We would try to finalise a name,” he said.