Islamabad, June 20 (IBNS): The new Prime Minister of Pakistan will be elected by the National Assembly on June 22, said Geo News on Wednesday.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Syed Khurshid Shah on Wednesday told reporters a National Assembly session would be convened on June 22 at 5:30 pm to elect the new Prime Minister of the South Asian nation after former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was disqualified by the country’s Supreme Court from holding his office on Tuesday.
He said the nomination papers for the election could be submitted by June 21.
The PPP has nominated senior leader Makhdoom Shahabuddin for the post of Prime Minister, media reports said.
The decision of was apparently taken at a meeting of senior PPP leaders on early Wednesday morning chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari, Geo News channel said, citing unnamed sources.
Meanwhile, several PPP leaders believe the decision taken by the court on Tuesday to disqualify Gilani might be linked with the corruption allegations made against Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s son Arsalan Iftikhar.
According to reports Arsalan was alleged of receiving payments of more than Rs 342 million from real estate tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain in order to influence cases in the Supreme Court.
Hussain earlier submitted a statement in the Supreme Court where he acknowledged of making the payments.
The authorities took actions against Iftikhar and Hussain on the basis of the statement.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif said Gilani 'hurt' his own dignity besides dishonoring the judiciary by refusing to follow the court's direction to reopen the corruption charges against Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.
"No matter who becomes the new prime minister, he will have to write the letter (to the Swiss authorities to open graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari)," Sharif told Pakistan's Geo News.
The Pakistan Supreme Court on Tuesday disqualified Gilani from holding his office.
Announcing the verdict on Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry said, "Yousuf Raza Gilani stands disqualified as a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (parliament). He has also ceased to be the prime minister of Pakistan ... the office of the prime minister stands vacant.”
However supporters of Gilani had said only parliament could dismiss the Prime Minister but the decision was undoubtedly seen as a blow to the country’s unpopular coalition government led by the PPP.
Experts had said a more serious crisis could be avoided if the ruling coalition finds another Prime Minister even though GIlani in late April had said he will not resign from his political chair after his contempt of court conviction.
“I am an elected prime minister, representing 180 million people. How can anybody order an elected prime minister to go home?” he had said.
Pakistan's Supreme Court in April had found Gilani guilty of contempt of court for refusing to reopen corruption cases against the President Asif Ali Zardari, but gave him only a symbolic sentence of a few minutes' detention in the courtroom.