The selection and size of the cabinet was the sole prerogative of the caretaker Prime Minister as per the Constitution and the President and political parties would have no role in that regard, said former Law Minister Farooq H Naek here on Friday. Naek said that under Article 148 of the Constitution, President would simply follow the advice of Prime Minister in the appointment of the caretaker cabinet.
However, former Finance Minister Saleem Mandviwalla told the media during a briefing on his last day in office that the caretaker cabinet would also be appointed after consultation of outgoing ruling coalition and the opposition in the National Assembly. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) sources said the opposition considered the appointment of the caretaker Prime Minister very crucial and was the reason for the party's reluctance to accept the government nominees.
"The opposition wants a caretaker PM who is not only neutral but also selects a competent team for the transition period. The opposition strongly believes and rightly so that the decisions taken by the government during the last four and half years pushed the economy to the verge of collapse and would not like to see a worsening during the interim set up," said a senior PML-N leader.
The PML-N believes that accepting a government nominee for the top slot in the interim setup will simply compound the economic malaise. "Our party wants an honest and neutral PM who can independently induct a competent team for day to day working of the government and does not indulge in policy or economic decisions which may add to the burden on the budget," he added. The 20th Constitution Amendment identifies the procedure of the appointment of a caretaker prime minister but remains silent on the criteria for selection of the cabinet for the interim set up.
The role of finance and water and power ministers in the caretaker setup will be of key importance due to the ongoing economic and energy crisis in the country. The economic mess created by the outgoing government could further aggravate in case the right person was not appointed for the job, an official in the Finance Ministry said on condition of anonymity.
Unsustainable public and looming large fiscal deficit must be considered before further borrowing to deal with the energy crisis or for any other reason. The government has estimated that current expenditure would be overrun by Rs 235 billion in the current fiscal year and the gap would be bridged by borrowing from the banking and non-banking sectors. Subsides for the power sector have been revised upward to Rs 345 billion for the current fiscal year from the budgeted Rs 237 billion. Sources in the Finance Ministry said that total subsidies for the power sector were unlikely to remain below Rs 400 billion if the current trend continues.
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