Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari held a second round of consultations on Tuesday to discuss the dissolution of assemblies and the formation of a caretaker setup ahead of the general elections.
The two leaders agreed that the National Assembly and the two provincial assemblies should be dissolved on August 8, four days before the mandated period is over. The final decision would be taken at the summit of the ruling alliance, the sources said.
Sources said that PM Shehbaz and Zardari also discussed the formula for picking up the caretakers. The PML-N was interested in bringing a political stalwart to head the office but the PPP argued against it and advocated considering some senior bureaucrat or former senior judge for the post of the caretaker chief executive.
The meeting ended without any decision on seat adjustment and a schedule for dissolving the NA, Sindh, and Balochistan provincial assemblies. That question has been left to the provincial leadership of the two parties since they have a better picture of the ground situation, the sources added.
PM Shahbaz and Zardari will have further discussions with their respective leaders in light of Tuesday’s deliberations, the sources said.