• Alvi asks Imran to stay on as ‘interim PM’
• Opposition refuses to take part in ‘sham’ process
• Two-year constitutional bar ‘unlikely’ to affect Gulzar’s appointment, says Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Following the dissolution of the National Assembly and the de-notification of Imran Khan as prime minister, President Arif Alvi officially held through a letter on Monday that Mr Khan would continue to hold office of prime minister in the interim period, until the appointment of a caretaker premier under Article 224 of the Constitution.

The letter, which was sent to the secretaries of cabinet division and parliamentary affairs, apart from Mr Khan and former opposition leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, stated that a “caretaker prime minister shall be appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister and leader of the opposition in the outgoing national assembly as per Article 224(1A) of the Constitution of Pakistan.”

But President Alvi, who has no direct constitutional role in the appointment of a caretaker prime minister, seemed to be taking a proactive role in the procedure when he wrote to the former opposition leader, saying he had received Mr Khan’s suggestion, and asked Mr Sharif to send the name of his nominee(s) as well.

Interim Prime Minister Imran Khan, on Monday, had proposed the name of former Supreme Court chief justice Gulzar Ahmed for the office.

His chances of becoming the caretaker PM are bright because the opposition has refused to become a part of a ‘controversial process’, unless the Supreme Court gives a verdict on the matter of the rejection of the opposition’s no-confidence resolution.

Justice Gulzar retired on Feb 1, 2022, and with his nomination, another controversy has surfaced because under Article 207 of the Constitution, he would be entering a new state office within two years of his retirement.

When contacted, a close aide of the interim prime minister told Dawn that the former chief justice’s consent had already been sought and he had agreed to perform as caretaker prime minister.

When the interim premier suggested the former chief justice caretaker for the slot of caretaker, Mr Sharif pointed out that the president had no constitutional right to write such a letter to him.

“How can a president who had abrogated the Constitution engage us?” asked the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president while answering a question at a presser of the joint opposition.

Also, Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said under the Constitution, it was the responsibility of the prime minister, and not the president, to write such a letter.

The opposition further claimed that after the dissolution of the government, Mr Khan had no justification to hold the office of PM’s or run the affairs of the state.

Earlier, a notification issued by the PM Office on behalf of Mr Khan stated: “In terms of Article 224 (1A) of the Constitution, I propose the name of retired justice Gulzar Ahmed, former Chief Justice of Pakistan, to be considered for appointment as the caretaker prime minister.”

Mr Khan, who is chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, then urged the opposition to prepare for the general elections and asked his supporters to take to streets on Monday night to expose his party dissidents.

Constitutional conundrum

The caretaker prime minister is being appointed under article 224-A of the constitution, which was incorporated in the Constitution under the 18th amendment in 2010.

This is the first time since this amendment that such a situation has arisen.

According to the Constitution, both the outgoing prime minister and outgoing opposition leader have to present names for the caretaker prime minister within three days (until Tuesday) of the dissolution of the NA.

Under Article 224-A, if they both disagree, a committee consisting of senators and MNAs will be sent two nominees each. The committee is “to be immediately constituted by the speaker of the National Assembly” based on nominations from the outgoing leaders of the house and opposition.

One of the top legal minds at Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) told Dawn that under the Constitution, the outgoing prime minister has to consult with the opposition leader over the caretaker appointment.

He admitted that if the opposition did not give any name, the nominee of Mr Khan may be appointed as caretaker prime minister without contest.

When former information minister Fawad Chaudhry was approached and asked if there was any possibility of another name being proposed by the interim PM for the office of caretaker PM, given the two year bar, the minister said the office of “caretaker PM is not an office of profit in the service of Pakistan under Article 207”, adding that the Peshawar High Court has already decided this issue.

Article 207 (2) of the Constitution says: “A person who has held office as a Judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court shall not hold any office of profit in the service of Pakistan, not being a judicial or quasi-judicial office or the office of Chief Election Commissioner or of Chairman or member of a Law Commission or of Chairman or member of the Council of Islamic Ideology, before the expiration of two years after he has ceased to hold that office.”

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2022