THERE will be a caretaker prime minister appointed, the Constitution guarantees that. But it is disappointing and perhaps worrying from a democratic perspective that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Shah have failed to reach an agreement on the caretaker prime minister.

Article 224A of the Constitution sets out the procedure in case Mr Abbasi and Mr Shah are still unable to agree on the caretaker prime minister three days after parliament is dissolved.

At this stage, it looks likely that the decision will be transferred to a bicameral parliamentary committee and perhaps ultimately to the ECP itself.

But the candidates that the committee and perhaps the ECP may have to consider will be nominated by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition.

So why cannot the prime minister and leader of the opposition end the uncertainty and select a caretaker prime minister themselves?

Certainly, Mr Abbasi and Mr Shah are not personally feuding but following party instructions on the matter.

Yet, of the several names that have been reported in the media as nominees of the PML-N and PPP for caretaker prime minister, there are no obvious differences in the level of professionalism and skill the candidates would bring to the job.

The caretaker prime minister’s responsibilities are narrowly defined by law and convention and in the presence of an empowered, and independent ECP, there is less space than ever for the executive to try and interfere in the electoral process on behalf of any political party.

It appears, then, that pettiness and unreasonable attitudes may be more to blame for the lack of agreement between the PML-N and PPP.

In 2013, too, both parties failed to agree on a candidate for caretaker prime minister, and it was left to the ECP to select Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, a retired judge from Balochistan, from among the pool of candidates provided to the ECP.

The failure to reach an agreement so far on the caretaker prime minister is stranger still when the PML-N, PPP and most mainstream political parties in the country have been able to come together to endorse historic Fata reforms and the region’s merger with KP with a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, the Senate and the KP Assembly.

Perhaps also the two sides are complacent in the matter of selecting a caretaker prime minister because they recognise that the stakes are relatively low and the Constitution guarantees a caretaker prime minister will be appointed.

But a cavalier approach is not what is needed at a time of great political uncertainty in the country, with the democratic project itself under great stress. The prime minister and leader of the opposition should try again to reach an agreement.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2018