Discussion between the Parliamentary Committee for appointing caretaker Prime Minister narrowed down to two main contenders: Dr Ishrat Hussain from the government side and the opposition's nominee former Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid.
According to sources, the two sides raised questions on the suitability of the candidacy of their opponent's nominee and the response would be debated during the meeting on the last day that is constitutionally allowed to the two protagonists to agree by 6-2 majority on the name of the caretaker Prime Minister.
However, the sources told Business Recorder that at this stage Dr Ishrat Hussain stood a better chance than former Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid. PML-N members, despite expressing reservations during the meeting, said that they would accept Dr Ishrat Hussain as caretaker Prime Minister if the PPP responds to their queries and satisfied them on the relations between Ahmed Khalil, a close relative of Dr Ishrat Hussian, with President Asif Ali Zardari.
The PPP members queried why former Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid's brother-in-law's family had nominated President Asif Ali Zardari in a murder case, sources said. The committee met for the second time with opposition member Sardar Yaqoob Nasir in the chair at Parliament House on Thursday. Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Farooq H Neak, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi, Khwaja Saad Rafiq and Pervez Rasheed attended the Thursday meeting.
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf had proposed former Justice Mir Hazar Khan Khoso and Dr Ishrat Hussain while Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had recommended former Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid and Rasool Bux Palejo for appointment as caretaker Prime Minter.
The second meeting of the committee also ended inconclusively while the third and final meeting would be held on Friday (today) at 10:30am. If the committee failed to decide the matter today, the names of the nominees will be referred to the Election Commission of Pakistan for final decision within two days.
After Committee's meeting, Khurshid Ahmed Shah told media persons that questions had been raised over both the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition's nominees which would be addressed during the Friday meeting. He said that deliberations on the matter were almost complete. "We will to resolve the issue and not let it go to the ECP," Khurshid said. Farooq H Neak said that the procedure for appointing caretaker Prime Minister was moving forward in a constitutional manner. "We want to elect the best candidate for the post of caretaker Prime Minister for holding transparent elections. The media should not speculate on the matter," he said. Sardar Yaqoob and Ghulam Ahmed Bilour also spoke on the occassion.