• Terms IMF deal signed by his predecessor ‘biggest obstacle’ to revival of economy
• Says rulers ‘sacrificed’ political capital to avert default

ISLAMABAD: With the clock ticking on the National Assembly’s term, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday declared the coalition government will hand over reins to the caretaker set-up on the expiry of its term in August.

In a televised address to the nation, the prime minister, however, did not drop a hint when the process to pick a caretaker prime minister would kick-start, even though there are only four weeks left in the completion of the assembly’s five-year term.

The premier also did not clear the confusion if the assembly would be allowed to complete its full term or would be dissolved before August 12.

Under the law, elections after completion of the assembly’s term are to be held within 60 days, and in case of dissolution in 90 days.

No race among aspirants for the caretaker prime minister is visible.

The caretaker prime minister is picked by the outgoing prime minister in consultation with the leader of the opposition.

In case, the prime minister and the leader of the opposition do not agree on any person to be appointed as the caretaker prime minister, within three days of the dissolution of the National Assembly, they shall forward two nominees each to a committee to be immediately constituted by the speaker.

The committee should comprise eight members of the outgoing National Assembly, or the Senate, or both, having equal representation from the treasury and the opposition. The committee members are to be nominated by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, respectively.

The committee so constituted shall finalise the name of the caretaker prime minister within three days of the referral of the matter to it. If, in any circumstance, the committee is unable to finalise a name for the caretaker prime minister, the matter shall be referred to the Election Commission of Pakistan for a final decision within two days of the referral. During all this, the outgoing prime minister shall continue to hold office until the appointment of a caretaker prime minister.

There are still many if and buts as rumours regarding the caretaker set-up staying for a longer time are also floated. Observers believe that the composition of the caretaker set-up will clear the confusion; if technocrats are brought in, then things will become “more suspicious”.

‘Economic revival plan’

The PM in his address said that a comprehensive plan for economic revival had been prepared, as there was no other option but to “break the begging bowl and achieve the goal of self-reliance”.

He said despite “challenges and conspiracies” hatched by the political opponents, the coalition government had successfully managed to put the country in the right direction in the shortest period.

He said the International Mone­tary Fund (IMF) programme agreed to by the previous government on tough conditions, was the biggest obstacle in the way of the country’s economic revival. The previous regime had brought the country to the brink of default by deviating from that agreement, he added.

He said ironically, the political opponents remained busy hatching conspiracies and creating hurdles while the coalition government was trying to resume the programme. The incumbent government had to face the biggest challenges and conspiracies in Pakistan’s democratic history in the shortest period, and steered it out of the deep crisis, he added.

He said the coalition parties sacrificed their politics to save the country from default by taking the “toughest decisions”. “We always remained worried about increasing the foreign exchange reserves instead of thinking about our vote banks.”

Expressing satisfaction over the overall economic situation, the prime minister said the trust of the business and investment communities was also reviving while the international rating agency Fitch had also improved Pakistan’s rating to ‘CCC’.

Similarly, he said, the United Nations Human Rights Council had also testified about improving human rights situation in Pakistan whereas the country had also shown improvement by seven points in the International Freedom Index.

Mr Sharif said when the staff-level agreement with the IMF was announced on June 30, the investors expressed their full satisfaction in stock sxchange as the KSE-100 index jumped by record 2,446 points in a single day.

Now the stock exchange had crossed the 45,000 points level which was the highest in 14 months, he said adding that the value of rupee was also improving.

Addressing an event at the Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan, the prime minister said no one should rejoice in getting an IMF loan and they will have to accept strict conditions to get the loan.

The PM also visited the under-construction Nishtar Hospital project.

Our reporter in Lahore also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2023