ISLAMABAD, Feb 12: With all political parties gearing up for elections, the ruling PPP and the opposition PML-N are still poles apart over the selection of a caretaker prime minister.

Similarly, while PPP leaders continue to proclaim that the government will hold elections on time, the PML-N leadership day in and day out is talking about conspiracies to postpone polls.

Dr Tahirul Qadri’s petition seeking reconstitution of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is a case in point.

If chief spokesperson for the PPP Qamar Zaman Kaira is to be believed, selection of caretaker prime minister will be made on time and the country will go to the polls as prescribed under the Constitution. But the PML-N continues to express its scepticism about the government’s intentions.

“Who says we are late. The National Assembly will complete its term on March 16 and the selection of caretaker prime minister can be finalised any day before it,” Mr Kaira told Dawn.

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf had done initial consultation with the coalition partners over the caretaker set-up and was going to consult the leader of the opposition at an appropriate time, he said.

Asked why the PPP wanted to delay the selection of the caretaker setup till last days of the assembly, Mr Kaira said: “It’s just a matter of a few days. Nobody should worry about delay in elections.”

Mr Kaira, who is also information minister, said the Constitution was clear on the roadmap of the caretaker set-up and date of next elections.

“If the assembly dies its natural death on March 16, the ECP will have 60 days to hold polls. In case of its dissolution before that, the commission will have 90 days.”

On the other hand, the PML-N leadership has repeatedly expressed apprehensions, though without any substantiation, that the PPP is not serious about elections. Therefore, it is delaying announcement of a date for the general elections.

Talking to Dawn, the leader of opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, said the PML-N had floated a couple of names (of former judges) for the post of caretaker prime minister.

He said the PML-N leadership on several occasions had called upon the government to announce a date for elections, but it was showing unnecessary reluctance for no reason.

Although some anti-democracy elements were not in favour of timely elections, he said, nobody could snatch the right of people to elect their representatives.

A PML-N leader said it was high time for both parties to amicably resolve the issue of the caretaker set-up and smoothly move towards elections.

“If the two parties fail to reach an agreement over caretaker prime minister and let the chief election commissioner do the job, it will be a setback for the democratic transition,” he said.

While the PPP and the PML-N are yet to start consultation over the caretaker set-up, some believe the petition filed by Dr Qadri could delay elections.

Former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Asma Jahangir and Akram Sheikh, a Supreme Court lawyer, at a TV talk show on Tuesday said the timing of the filing of the petition was crucial and it might affect elections.

Mr Sheikh, a pro-PML-N lawyer, even accused the PPP of supporting Dr Qadri in his efforts to get elections delayed. An early announcement of elections will put conspiracy theorists predicting delay in elections to the rest.

The Constitution, after the 20th amendment, has spelled out the criteria for selection of the caretaker set-up.

Article 224 (A) says if the prime minister and the leader of opposition in the National Assembly do not agree on the selection of caretaker prime minister within three days of the dissolution of the assembly, each of them will forward two names to a committee.

The panel will be immediately constituted by the speaker of the assembly and comprise eight members of the NA or the Senate or both, to be nominated by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. It will have equal representation from the treasury and the opposition

The committee will select the caretaker prime minister within three days. If it fails to do so, the names will be referred to the ECP for a final decision in two days.