PPP, PML-N consider names for candidates of PM, speaker

A high-level meeting was held on Sunday between leaders of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) where the two mainstream political fronts considered different names as joint candidates for the positions of prime minister, National Assembly (NA) speaker and deputy speaker.

The meeting, which was organised in Islamabad, contained senior leaders from both sides as the NA opposition-to-be has decided to come up with joint candidates for the slots.

Different names from both parties were considered while no official announcement has been made yet. According to reports, Khursheed Shah will be likely candidate for the NA speaker while Shehbaz Sharif will contest the NA voting for the position of premiership.

Separately, the PML-N has decided to hold a session of its central executive committee (CEC) on Monday. The members of the CEC have been asked to arrive in Lahore for the meeting.

It was earlier reported that the decision by the PPP to sit on the opposition in the Punjab assembly has rendered it difficult for the PML-N to form a government in Punjab. While the PML-N, the PPP, MMA and the ANP have agreed to field joint candidates at the centre, PML-N’s failure to obtain PPP’s support means that the party would have little chance of forming the government in the most populous province.