Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari for the second time in less than a week on Tuesday, as the two continued discussing the ruling coalition’s strategy for dissolving the National Assembly and picking members for a caretaker setup.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Economic Affairs Minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq of the PMLN, as well as Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari of the PPP, joined Sharif and Zardari. Ahead of the meeting, local media reported that the two parties had agreed to dissolve the National Assembly on Aug. 8—four days ahead of its mandated period—to allow for elections within 90 days. However, in a statement, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb clarified that no such decision had been finalized.
According to local media, the prime minister and PPP leader decided to hold a meeting of all parties of the ruling coalition to finalize a strategy for the dissolution of assemblies and for the caretaker setup. During their discussions, the pros and cons of whether to appoint a senior politician or retired bureaucrat or judge for the interim prime minister was also debated, with no real decision reached.
Also on Tuesday, several lawmakers expressed confidence that general elections, likely in November, would be held on time and would not face any delays. At a dinner for the diplomatic corps in Islamabad, the foreign minister hoped timely general elections would trigger political stability and enable economic stability and development. “We are heading into elections and as with many countries represented here today, we too are experiencing heightened partisanship and heightened polarization in the lead-up to our elections,” he said. “But I am confident or optimistic, hopefully not naive, that after we conduct these elections in a timely manner, we will be able to return to a sense of political stability,” he added.
“They [people of Pakistan] will get to choose between politicians or political parties that feed off the politics of hate, division and the politics of vendetta, or those politicians that offer a message of hope, that offer a message of unity and have a sense of purpose and a desire to deliver,” he said.