PM Shehbaz starts consultations with allied parties on the selection of interim setup: Qamar Zaman Kaira

ISLAMABAD, July 17 (SABAH): Advisor to PM on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan and senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Chaudhry Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Monday that a politician should be appointed as caretaker prime minister, saying Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has started consultations with allied parties on the selection of interim setup.

In an interview with a private TV channel, Qamar Zaman Kaira said that the prime minister would consult with the opposition leader after deliberations with coalition partners.

The senior PPP leader said that political offices can be run only by politicians, as this is their job.  He added that the most elevated political office of the country is that of the prime minister. “If a judge, general, bureaucrat, technocrat, journalist, or any corporate sector employee is appointed to it, it will be a disgrace to the post and cannot work.”

“Can I be appointed, if a seat of a judge in a high court or the Supreme Court is vacant? How will I be able to do justice there?” he asked.

Qamar Zaman Kaira said the PM’s Office has many responsibilities. “Political people should be appointed as prime minister, ministers or chief ministers. These posts should not go to others.”

Kaira said that the election reforms could be completed in a few days and that the election commission had started the process based on the old census. The PPP leader added that the commission needs four months for new delimitation. He advised the political parties to legislate on election reforms soon after completing the consultation.