
As a result of the changes made in the Constitution by the R. C. O. and the Eighth Amendment, the President had the power to appoint a caretaker Prime Minister and a caretaker Cabinet at the Federal as well at Provincial level. Using these powers, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolved the National and Provincial Assemblies on August 6, 1990, and declared a state of emergency in the country. Elections were scheduled to be held on October 24, 1990.
Ghulam Ishaq Khan did not appoint a neutral or non-partisan caretaker Cabinet or Prime Minister. He chose the leader of the opposition in the former National Assembly, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, as the new caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan.