ISLAMABAD: Amid rumours of a technocrat setup being brought in, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Friday ruled out its possibility and said that it can be someone’s wish but is not possible practically.
“There is no room for a technocrat government in the constitution,” said Tarar in an informal conversation with journalists. The law minister said that the constitution is clear that if assemblies are dissolved before their stipulated time, then elections will be held in 90 days. If the assemblies are dissolved on time then the poll will be held in 60 days, he added.
The minister also stated that once the assemblies are dissolved then a caretaker government will come in and there was no other option apart from that. “Technocratic government can be someone’s wish but is not practically possible. Steps can be taken for the country’s economy by staying within the constitution,” said the minister. He added that no one’s wishes and thoughts can be banned.
To a question about PTI leader Asad Qaiser’s claim about the government suggesting a technocratic government, Tarar replied: “As of now, there is no such thing in my knowledge, although I have seen it on TV.
Meanwhile, former Chairman Senate Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, condemning the talks of installation of the interim government, announced to resist any move and said that the talk of a technocrat or long-term caretaker government is ultra vires of the Constitution, 1973.
“If such a technocrat government is installed, it will open the floodgates of political instability with a corresponding effect on the already worsening economic situation,” he said while commenting on the proposal for the installation of the interim government.
Rabbani said, “As reported in the media, the government functionaries should refrain from making suggestions of unconstitutional forms of government. The Constitution, 1973 provides for a caretaker Cabinet in terms of Article 224 of the Constitution, 1973, wherein, such a caretaker Cabinet is activated on the dissolution of the Assembly on completion of its term, or in case it is dissolved under Article 58 or Article 112, then the President or the Governor, as the case may be, shall appoint a caretaker Cabinet in consultation with the Prime Minister and or Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National Assembly or Provincial Assembly, as the case may be.”
Senator Rabbani said the Constitution further provides that if the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister, as the case may be and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly or the Provincial Assembly, as the case may be, cannot arrive at an agreement then the provisions of Article 224 A, Constitution, 1973, shall be triggered.
He said there is no other provision in the Constitution for a caretaker Cabinet nor can any such provision be provided for by way of subordinate legislation. “It is time that we stop making Pakistan a laboratory and produce test tube systems which have failed,” he said, adding: “Till now, the following forms of government have at one time or another been experimented with military dictatorship; quasi-military dictatorship, presidential form of government, unelected Majlis-e-Shoora, technocrat government, elections through basic democrat, hybrid democracy, a quasi-parliamentary form of government, party-less elections and quasi presidential form of government.”
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