ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi claimed on Thursday that the upcoming general elections would be conducted by ‘aliens’, not the caretaker government, echoing the remarks repeated by the ruling party.
Talking to newsmen after attending a dinner hosted by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, premier Abbasi said that despite the role of ‘aliens’, Pakistan Muslim league Nawaz would participate in next general elections.
Commenting on the consultations with Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Shah, over the interim setup, Abbasi said that no retired army general had been proposed for the office of PM but hastened to add that a retired judge or bureaucrat or a politician could become the caretaker prime minister.
“The issue of caretaker prime minister was not so important but it was being given undue importance,” asserted the premier.
Abbasi said that the caretaker set-up would be installed for 60 days and elections will be held in the meantime.
Reaffirming confidence in the leadership of PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, Abbasi claimed that his future was bright.
The ‘alien’ debate in the political landscape was ignited by former premier Nawaz Sharif, who, while addressing a gathering at Sahiwal on Tuesday ‘boasted’ that his contest was not with Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari or Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, but with the aliens.
Though Nawaz Sharif fell short of explaining the term, political observers are well aware that the former premier referred to the military establishment.
The comments by Nawaz’s predecessor confirm that the embattled ruling party had some reservations over the transparency of the upcoming general elections.
