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Pakistan: Imran Khan nominates Gulzar Ahmed as caretaker PM

Gulzar Ahmed is former chief justice

gulzar-imran Gulzar Ahmed (left); Imran Khan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has nominated former chief justice Gulzar Ahmed as the caretaker PM. Reports say that Khan took the decision after consultation and approval from the PTI core committee.

The announcement was made by PTI leader and outgoing information minister Fawad Chaudhry, on Twitter.

Born in 1957, Justice Ahmed served as chief justice from December 2019 until his retirement in February 2022.

He was part of a five-judge bench that disqualified former premier Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Papers case. He made headlines multiple times due to his strong verdicts and comments against governments and bureaucrats.

Justice Ahmed had also ordered authorities to reconstruct a temple vandalised by a mob in northwest Pakistan and instructed them to recover the money for the restoration work from the attackers whose act had caused "international embarrassment" to Pakistan.

He had also attended a grand function at the rebuilt temple to celebrate Diwali festival last year and to express solidarity with the members of the Hindu community.

Earlier in the day, President Arif Alvi had issued a notification saying Khan will continue to be the prime minister until the appointment of a caretaker premier.

President Alvi had also written a letter to Khan and leader of the opposition in the outgoing National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, asking them to propose names of suitable persons for appointment as the caretaker premier, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The letter said that the National Assembly (NA) and the federal Cabinet had been dissolved on Sunday as per the Constitution.

Alvi told them in case they do not agree on the appointment within three days of the dissolution of the NA, they shall forward two nominees each to a committee to be constituted by the speaker, comprising eight members of the outgoing NA, or the Senate, or both, having equal representation from the treasury and the opposition, it said.

The members of that committee from the treasury and Opposition benches are to be nominated by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition.

The Constitution has empowered the president to appoint a caretaker prime minister in consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the outgoing NA, the President's Secretariat said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the Cabinet Secretariat issued a notification stating that Khan had "ceased to hold the office of the prime minister of Pakistan with immediate effect".

However, under Article 94 of the Constitution, the president "may ask the Prime Minister to continue to hold office until his successor enters upon the office of Prime Minister".

(With PTI inputs)

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