ISLAMABAD: A day after a government body de-notified Imran Khan as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, President Dr. Arif Alvi on Monday announced that Khan will continue to hold the office until the appointment of a caretaker PM.
“Caretaker Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President in consultation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National Assembly as per Article 224(1A) of the Constitution of Pakistan,” a notification issued by President’s secretariat said.
According to the notification accessed by The New Indian, President Alvi has appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National Assembly to propose a suitable person for appointment of the post.
If the prime minister and the Leader of the Opposition do not agree on the nomination of the caretaker PM within three days of the dissolution of the National Assembly, they shall nominate two persons each to a committee that would be set up by the Speakers of the National Assembly.
The Assembly was dissolved by the Pakistan President on the advice of PM Khan on Sunday.
The committee will have eight members of the outgoing National Assembly, or the Senate, or both, having equal representation from the Treasury and the Opposition, to be nominated by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition respectively, as per the notification.
On Sunday night, the Cabinet Secretariat of Pakistan stated that Prime Minister Khan ceased to hold the office “with immediate effect”.
“Consequent upon the dissolution of Pakistan Assembly by the President of Pakistan in terms of Article 58(1) read with Article 48(1) of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan vide Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, dated 3rd April 2022, Mr Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ceased to hold the office of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, with immediate effect,” the Cabinet notification had said.
In dramatic chain of events, the Deputy Speaker of the Pakistan National Assembly had, on Sunday, rejected a no-confidence motion against PM Khan moved by a joint Opposition under Article 5 of the Constitution which says loyalty to the state is the basic duty of every citizen.
“Assemblies have been dissolved. We don’t have a government now. The PM will function for 15 days and then handover to caretaker setup for elections,” a source from Islamabad familiar with the development told The New Indian.
National elections in Pakistan would be held within three months.
Addressing the nation after the rejection of the no-trust motion, PM Khan blamed “foreign-based forces” behind the “conspiracy” to bring down his government.
The cricketer-turned-politician assumed the office following his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) landslide victory in the national assembly elections in 2018.