Pakistan Peoples Party, opposition zero in on Asma as caretaker PM?

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's ruling PPP and main opposition PML-N are close to striking a deal on naming a consensus caretaker premier, with top lawyer Asma Jahangir's candidature "under serious consideration", and finalising a date for polls to be held before year-end, a media report said on Sunday.
Amidst intense speculation regarding the outcome of the confrontation between the government and the judiciary, which may see a second premier losing his post, Pakistan's two largest political parties "are quietly but rapidly finalising an agreement", The Express Tribune quoted its sources as saying.
Abdullah Hussain Haroon, the Pakistan's envoy to the United Nations, and leading lawyer Asma Jahangir, ex-president of the supreme court bar association, are being seen as candidates for the post of caretaker PM in a set-up that will oversee the election, the report said.
Jahangir's candidature is "under serious consideration" while Haroon is being seen as a "soft, back-up option", according to the report. The two parties have been holding discussions in private though they continue to criticize each other in public and in the media. The discussions between the PPP and PML-N will be crucial for the first transition from one popularly elected government to another in Pakistan's history.The daily said key sources in the top leadership of both parties had confirmed that talks on caretaker PM candidates and a date for the election were in "advanced stages".
The SC has set July 25 as the deadline for PM Raja Pervez Ashraf to approach Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. It had earlier convicted Ashraf's predecessor, ex-PM Yousaf Raza %Gilani, of contempt and disqualified him for refusing to revive the cases. Legal experts believe Ashraf too could be disqualified due to the government's insistence that the cases cannot be reopened because of the constitutional immunity enjoyed by Zardari.
A member of the inner circle of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif refused to deny or confirm the names of Jahangir and Haroon as candidates for caretaker premier for the post of caretaker premier and "advised patience for the short term". He said, "Wait for two weeks and a lot will be clear, as well as some good news for all."