ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Thursday that the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) has forwarded to opposition parties the names of seven candidates for the caretaker prime ministers position, DawnNews reported.

Speaking to media representatives outside the Parliament House in Islamabad, Nisar said that free and fair elections would be ensured through the caretaker setup. The PML-N lawmaker, however declining to name the nominees, hinted that the seven included two former Supreme Court judges, a lawyer and four politicians.

Nisar told reporters that he had contacted the Jamaat-i-Islami’s (JI) Syed Munawwar Hasan, Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao of the PPP-Sherpao, Salim Saifullah of the PML (Likeminded), the National Party’s (NP) Hasil Khan Bizenjo, the Balochistan National Party-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s Mahmood Khan Achakzai for consultations over the caretaker government.

The opposition leader further added that the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) had earlier sent the name of two candidates, however they withdrew those.

Earlier in Aug, the PML-N had said that it would disclose the names it had short-listed for the post of prime minister after holding consultations with other opposition parties, including the Jamaat-i-Islami, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf and nationalist parties.

Chaudhry Nisar had said that none of the names selected by his party belonged to Punjab and there was no retired bureaucrat or general among them. He had said the list comprised retired judges, senior lawyers and politicians of good repute.

Meanwhile, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman urged the government on Wednesday to hold consultations with all opposition parties on the caretaker set-up, adding that his party would not accept any decision on the matter taken only by the PPP and PML-N.