Nasir-ul-Mulk was selected by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party and the opposition and he will remain in the role until an election within 60 days<doc-sep>ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A former Pakistani Supreme Court chief justice has been chosen as the caretaker prime minister until late July, when Pakistan is to hold general elections. The appointment of the former justice, Nasir ul-Mulk, as the head of a neutral, interim government was announced at a joint new conference in Islamabad on Monday by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Syed Khurshid Shah, the opposition leader. Mr. Mulk is likely to be sworn in on Friday. The election marks the second democratic transition in Pakistan’s history, though it comes amid months of political tumult and civil-military tensions. “With the selection of the former chief justice as caretaker prime minister, Pakistan’s democracy is showing signs of a pulse, albeit a faint one,” said Arif Rafiq, a political analyst and a nonresident fellow at the Middle East Institute. “The major political parties are continuing a recent tradition of selecting by consensus an impartial figure to oversee the election process, thereby increasing the odds that it will be free, fair and credible.”<doc-sep>ISLAMABAD: Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice (retd) Nasirul Mulk took oath as Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister at the President House today (Friday). President Mamnoon Hussain administered oath to the caretaker prime minister at a ceremony which was also attended by the Senate chairman, deputy chairman, politicians and military officials. While speaking to journalists after taking oath, the newly-appointed caretaker premier said they will announce the Cabinet members after discussion. He added the Cabinet would be concise as a few members would be appointed. When asked about elections, Mulk said they will make sure elections are held on time and in a transparent manner. “Will fulfil the responsibility we have come for.” The caretaker prime minister said they would support the Election Commission of Pakistan for timely and fair elections. After taking oath, the caretaker premier was presented with a guard of honour at the PM House. Mulk is the seventh caretaker prime minister of Pakistan. The federal government completed its five-year constitutional term late Thursday, after which the interim government took over the reins of the country on Friday. This is the first time in Pakistan’s history that a second consecutive democratic government has completed its five-year tenure. The former chief justice was unanimously nominated as the caretaker prime minister by the government and opposition. On May 28, former Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah had announced that Justice (retd) Mulk will take reigns as caretaker premier while addressing a press conference along with former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. Shah said, "The name of the person I would like to present is a very respectable one. The name is Nasirul Mulk, who has served as chief justice. He played a historic role in the judiciary and when he was a lawyer," the PPP leader announced. Humble beginnings Mulk, who has also served as the interim chief of Election Commission of Pakistan, will be heading the government until the general elections as the incumbent setup will be dissolved soon. He was born on August 17, 1950, in Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and has served as the 22nd Chief Justice of Pakistan taking oath after Tassaduq Hussain Jillani retired from the post. Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk was a barrister-at-law of the Inner Temple, London. He was elected as secretary general, Peshawar High Court Bar Association in 1981. In 1993, he was appointed as the advocate general of KP, formerly known as North-West Frontier Province. A year later, in 1994, he was appointed as the judge of Peshawar High Court. He was elevated as chief justice of Peshawar High Court on May 31, 2004, and as a Supreme Court judge on April 4, 2005. Justice Nasirul Mulk took oath as Chief Justice of Pakistan on 6th July 2014 and served in the capacity for about a year.<doc-sep>
Former Pakistani chief justice Nasir-ul Mulk has been chosen to act as the interim prime minister until parliamentary elections are held in two months. The ruling party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, and the opposition announced on May 28 that Mulk will serve until elections are held on July 25. Mulk, 67, is due to be sworn in as prime minister on June 1, one day after parliament is dissolved and Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's mandate expires. It's only the third time in Pakistan's 70-year history that a parliament completed its five-year term without being dismissed by the military or due to a political uprising. Abbasi, Syed Khursheed Shah, opposition leader in the lower house of the bicameral parliament, and Ayaz Sadiq, speaker of the National Assembly, made the announcement in a joint press conference in Islamabad. Shah said the decision was made jointly with the ruling party and others, and that Mulk had played "a historic role" in Pakistan. "I hope that God will give him courage and passion and he will succeed in conducting elections to be held on July 25." Pakistan's prime minister is elected by the National Assembly, the country's lower house of parliament, and at the end of the government's five-year term a caretaker prime minister is selected whose main duty is to oversee the Election Commission in holding free and fair elections. Mulk served as chief justice in 2014-15 and before that was a senior judge on the Supreme Court. He was previously chief justice of the Peshawar High Court in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. With reporting by Reuters and AP