Raja-pervaiz-PM-AP-670
Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf- File Photo by AP

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf will announce the roadmap for the next general elections on August 14, 2012, sources said on Sunday.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) held a meeting today to discuss the upcoming general elections.

The sources said that the general elections are expected in the first week of November, however, the prime minister will formally announce the road-map on August 14.

Seven-member team of the PML-N, which included Chaudhry Nisar, Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, Khawaja Asif, Ishaq Dar and Pervez Rasheed, and five-member team of the PPP, which included Khursheed Shah, Aitzaz Ahsan, Raza Rabbani, Farhatullah Babar and Jehangir Badar attended the meeting, the sources said.

It was agreed in the meeting that the prime minister, chief ministers, and other federal and state ministers in the care-taker set-up will be residents of Pakistan. The care-taker prime minister will neither be from the PPP or the PML-N, nor one who has been a member or leader of any other political party, the sources added.

Both the PML-N and the PPP, in consultation with other political parties, will also formulate code of conduct for the general election.

The meeting also decided that NAB references will not be filed against any political leader till the next elections.

The sources also said that the negotiations between the PML-N and the PPP on the care-taker setup were supported by few of the ally countries who wanted politics of reconciliation in the country.

Some media outlets reported that the names of two candidates are being discussed for the post of caretaker prime minister: Abdullah Hussain Haroon, currently Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations and Asma Jahangir, the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and former chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).

Opinion

Political capitalism

Political capitalism

Pakistani decision-makers salivate at the prospect of a one-party state but without paying attention to those additional ingredients.

Editorial

Spending restrictions
Updated 13 May, 2024

Spending restrictions

The country's "recovery" in recent months remains fragile and any shock at this point can mean a relapse.
Climate authority
13 May, 2024

Climate authority

WITH the authorities dragging their feet for seven years on the establishment of a Climate Change Authority and...
Vending organs
13 May, 2024

Vending organs

IN these cash-strapped times, black marketers in the organ trade are returning to rake it in by harvesting the ...
A turbulent 2023
Updated 12 May, 2024

A turbulent 2023

Govt must ensure judiciary's independence, respect for democratic processes, and protection for all citizens against abuse of power.
A moral victory
12 May, 2024

A moral victory

AS the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted on Friday in favour of granting Palestine greater rights at the...
Hope after defeat
12 May, 2024

Hope after defeat

ON Saturday, having fallen behind Japan in the first quarter of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup final, Pakistan showed...