LAHORE, Nov 10: Law minister Dr Khalid Ranjha said on Sunday the next prime minister would be elected by the National Assembly in case political parties failed to agree on one candidate for this slot.

Talking to reporters, he said the schedule for the election of prime minister would be announced by the cabinet division.

He said at present three candidates were in the field, and if they insisted on their candidacy, the speaker would hold the election according to the laid down procedure.

The minister held political parties responsible for the ongoing deadlock, and said the situation would come under discussion at a joint meeting of the cabinet and the National Security Council in Islamabad on Monday.

He said the government was determined to hold the inaugural session of the National Assembly on Nov 8, but had to postpone the same for about a week on a request from various parties.

He said political parties were demanding changes to the Legal Framework Order because they knew that none of them had the required majority to amend the same in parliament.

If parties were united against the LFO, as was being claimed by them, there was no justification for them to seek changes in it outside the parliament. Such parties would be authorized to tailor the LFO according to their desire on the floor of the parliament.

But, he said, demanding changes to the LFO without any party being in a position to alter it in parliament was nothing more than a wishful thinking.

He alleged that political leaders now living abroad were trying to deepen the crisis. However, he believed the situation would crystallize during the current week.