• Shehbaz Sharif, Asif Zardari ponder election date question over dinner at Model Town
• Both parties keen to have caretaker setup ‘of their choosing’
• Jahangir Tareen decides to let IPP men remain on cabinet until end of govt’s term

LAHORE: Prime Minis­ter Shehbaz Sharif spent the better part of Saturday in intensive discussions with old allies and some new political players, as the ruling coalition scrambles to generate a consensus on the timing of the upcoming general elections, as well as the shape of the caretaker government that would oversee the polling process.

The highlight of the day was his meeting with PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari at his Model Town residence, where, sources said, issues related to the caretaker setup were “thoroughly” thrashed out.

After a dinner spread, the duo held a one-on-one meeting for over an hour.

A party insider privy to the discussions told Dawn that both sides were keen to have an interim setup that could not be prolonged — if need be. To this end, both PPP and PML-N seem to be leaning towards a transitionary setup consisting mostly of politicians rather than the technocrats who are usually picked for such jobs.

“A caretaker setup consisting of technocrats can mean that elections may be delayed for quite some time, something neither the PML-N or PPP are in favour of,” the insider told Dawn after the meeting at Model Town.

According to him, huddles in both Dubai and Lahore yielded an agreement that there should be no “significant delay” in polls. This stems from the apprehension that if a technocrat setup is installed in the Centre, the powers-that-be may try to elongate its tenure under a one-point agenda — fix economy before heading into a general election.

Sources said PM Shehbaz and Mr Zardari discussed the possibility of dissolving the National Assembly a couple of days before it is due to complete its tenure, so that elections might be held in November 2023.

Under the Constitution, if the NA completes its term, polls are to be held within 60 days. But if the assembly is dissolved prematurely, even if by a day, it would give the government 90 days to conduct elections.

Both leaders are said to have expressed their satisfaction over the IMF agreement that helped avert an impending default, and there seemed to be a consensus that since the major economic issues facing the country had been addressed to some extent, there was now “no excuse” for delaying the polls.

Earlier this month, Mr Zardari had met with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif in the United Arab Emirates to discuss — among other things — a potential power-sharing formula if the two parties came to power in the next elections. Reportedly, the two head honchos had agreed to bring in a caretaker prime minister of their choosing, not one picked by anyone on the outside, so to speak.

In a recent address to the nation, PM Shehbaz announced in so many words that his government’s tenure would come to an end next month and the Election Commission of Pakistan would give the date for elections.

This has been interpreted in many ways, with some suggesting that the mainstream parties and the establishment were not on the ‘same page’ with regard to the date of polls.

PM meets JKT

Separately, PM Shehbaz also visited the residence of Istekham-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) patron Jahangir Khan Tareen here on Saturday to express condolences over the demise of the latter’s brother, Alamgir Khan Tareen.

PML-N sources said the premier told JKT that his government needed his party men to stay in the coalition until the incumbent government completed its tenure.

“The premier was of the view that it would not go down well with the coalition if two of his advisers — Awn Chaudhry and Numaun Langrial — quit at a stage when there are hardly four weeks left,” sources said.

At this, Mr Tareen reportedly assured the PM that his party would continue supporting the government until the end of its term. To this end, both Mr Chaudhry and Mr Langrial have been asked to stay on at their cabinet posts – a walking back of an earlier decision by IPP leader Aleem Khan, who had asked both to quit their current posts.

IPP spokesperson Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan announced the decision in a tweet on Saturday, saying that Mr Tareen had decided that both men would remain a part of the federal cabinet until the end of its tenure.

Both the PML-N and IPP have already declared that they would contest the next elections independently from their own platform, but observers are not ruling out the possibility of a seat adjustment between the two, especially in the south Punjab region, where the PML-N is admittedly weaker.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2023