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Pakistani ruling parties say consultations for caretaker government, dissolution of assemblies underway

This file picture, taken on April 4, 2022, shows Pakistan's incumbent prime minister Shehbaz Sharif (R) and FM Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari during a press conference in Islamabad. (AFP/File)
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Updated 24 July 2023
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Pakistani ruling parties say consultations for caretaker government, dissolution of assemblies underway

  • The five-year tenure of Pakistan’s National Assembly will expire on midnight, August 12
  • PM Shehbaz Sharif meets leaders of coalition parties to discuss elections, political matters
Updated 24 July 2023
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Consultations on dissolving assemblies and forming a caretaker setup are underway with no final decision reached yet, senior leaders of Pakistan’s ruling coalition parties confirmed this week, hoping that a consensus on the issues would be reached before the government’s tenure expires next month.

The five-year tenure of Pakistan’s National Assembly, the lower house of the parliament, would expire on August 12 at midnight. Pakistan’s constitution stipulates that elections should be held within 60 days if the assemblies complete their tenure, and within 90 days if they are dissolved before their term expires. Last week, Sharif said his government would go home before its tenure expires and hand over the reins of the country to a caretaker setup.

Leaders of Pakistan’s ruling coalition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) met in Dubai last month to reportedly discuss the formation of the interim government. However, as per media reports, the two parties could not form a consensus on the matter.

“Consultations are underway as the prime minister is meeting different coalition partners because there is still around three weeks’ time left,” Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, who is also a senior leader of the PML-N, told Arab News.

The PML-N is a member of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a coalition of 13 political parties in Pakistan that was formed in September 2020 against then-Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government. On April 10, 2022, the PDM ousted Khan from office via parliamentary vote and elected Shehbaz Sharif as his successor.

Sanaullah said Pakistan’s election regulator would announce the date for the upcoming polls once a caretaker government has been formed. However, he said deliberations are underway with coalition partners to determine when the government would go home.

“It is still not decided whether the government will dissolve the assembly a few days before completing its tenure or if it will work till the last day,” he added.

Faisal Karim Kundi, another member of the cabinet and the PPP’s central information secretary, also confirmed that the prime minister was holding consultations with coalition partners to determine the date for the dissolution of assemblies and formation of an interim government.

“In this regard, the PPP leadership, including Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, met the prime minister multiple times recently to discuss the caretaker setup,” Kundi told Arab News.

Initially a member of the PDM, the PPP parted ways with the alliance in 2021. Kundi confirmed the party would contest elections as an independent political entity.

“Regarding an election alliance, the PPP is not likely to form one with the PDM,” he said. “Instead, they will contest the elections using their own symbol, with possible seat adjustments, as we are not part of the PDM alliance.”

Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) secretary-general, Mau­lana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, said his party’s chief Maulana Fazal Ur Rehman met Sharif recently to discuss various election-related issues, including the formation of a caretaker setup.

“The two leaders also discussed the possibility of forming alliances for the elections,” he told Arab News.

Haideri said consultations were underway, adding that no final decision had been reached yet.

“The final decision will be made and announced when the appropriate time arrives,” he added.

MQM-Pakistan spokesperson Ahsan Ghauri endorsed that his party leadership had also met Sharif to discuss the upcoming elections.

“We have expressed reservations about the accuracy of the voter lists and have presented evidence and proofs to the [election] commission, and one crucial point discussed in the meeting with the prime minister revolves around voter lists,” Ghauri told Arab News.

Ghauri said his party demanded that elections be held based on the results of the new population census.

“As for the prime minister’s stance, he hasn’t confirmed whether elections will proceed based on the new census or not, as he has left the decision to the discretion of the Election Commission of Pakistan,” he added.

He said a PML-N committee formed by Sharif to hold talks with allies on the caretaker setup has not sought the MQM-P’s opinion so far.

“At this stage, we haven’t provided any names since the Raabta committee meeting has not yet taken place,” Ghauri said, referring to his party’s top leadership.

Topics: pakistan government Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari All Parties Conference Pakistan elections 2023

Pakistan accuses India of manipulating Indus waters, warns of risks to regional peace

Updated 19 December 2025
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Pakistan accuses India of manipulating Indus waters, warns of risks to regional peace

  • India announced in April it was putting the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance over a gun attack in disputed Kashmir it blamed on Pakistan
  • Islamabad says it has witnessed ‘unusual, abrupt variations’ in the flow of Chenab river, accusing New Delhi of ‘material breaches’ of treaty
Updated 19 December 2025
Usama Iqbal Khawaja

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday accused India of manipulating flows of Indus waters in violation of a 1960 water-sharing treaty, warning that unilateral actions over the transboundary waters could heighten tensions and pose risks to regional peace.

The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), mediated by the World Bank, divides control of the Indus basin rivers between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. India said in April it was holding the treaty “in abeyance” after a gun attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed more than 26 tourists. New Delhi blamed the assault on Pakistan, Islamabad denied it.

The treaty grants Pakistan rights to the Indus basin’s western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive uses like hydropower, while India controls the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — for unrestricted use but must not significantly alter their flow. India can use the western rivers for limited purposes such as power generation and irrigation, without storing or diverting large volumes, according to the agreement.

Speaking to foreign envoys in Islamabad, Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar accused New Delhi of “material breaches” of the IWT that may have consequences for regional stability, citing “unusual, abrupt variations” in the flow of Chenab river from April 30 to May 21 and from Dec. 7 to Dec. 15.

“These variations in water flows are of extreme concern for Pakistan as they point to unilateral release of water by India into River Chenab. India has released this water without any prior notification or any data- or information-sharing with Pakistan as required under the treaty,” he said.

“India’s most recent action clearly exemplifies the weaponization of water to which Pakistan has been consistently drawing attention of the international community.”

There was no immediate response from New Delhi to the statement.

Dar said this water “manipulation” occurs at a critical time in Pakistan’s agricultural cycle and directly threatens the lives and livelihoods as well as food and economic security of its citizens.

He shared that Indian actions prompted Indus Water Commissioner Mehar Ali Shah to write a letter to his Indian counterpart, seeking clarification on the matter as provided under the Indus Waters Treaty.

“We expect India to respond to the queries raised by Pakistan’s Indus water commissioner, refrain from any unilateral manipulation of river flows, and fulfill all its obligations in letter and spirit under the Indus Waters Treaty provisions,” the Pakistani deputy premier said.

Dar also accused India of consistently trying to undermine the IWT by building various dams, including Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects, which he said sets “a very dangerous precedent.”

“Alarmingly, India is now subverting the treaty’s own dispute resolution mechanism by refusing to participate in the Court of Arbitration and neutral expert proceedings. India is pursuing a deliberate strategy to sabotage the well-established arbitration process under the treaty provisions,” he said.

The South Asian neighbors have been arguing over hydroelectric projects on the shared Indus river system for decades, with Pakistan complaining that India’s planned hydropower dams will cut its flows.

In August, the International Court of Arbitration rendered an award on issues of general interpretation of the IWT, explaining the designed criteria for the new run-of-river hydropower projects to be constructed by India on the western rivers of Chenab, Jhelum and Indus, which Islamabad said vindicated its stance.

In its findings, the Court of Arbitration declared that India shall “let flow” the waters of the western rivers for Pakistan’s unrestricted use. In that connection, the specified exceptions for generation of hydro-electric plants must conform strictly to the requirements laid down in the Treaty, rather than to what India might consider an “ideal” or “best practices approach,” according to the Pakistani foreign office.

“Pakistan would like to reiterate that Indus Waters Treaty is a binding legal instrument that has made an invaluable contribution to peace and stability of South Asia,” Dar said.

“Its violation, on the one hand, threatens the inviolability of international treaties and on the other, it poses serious risks to regional peace and security, principles of good neighborhood, and norms that govern inter-state relations.”

Topics: Indus Water Treaty Pakistan India Conflict

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