Pakistan Appoints Ex-Chief Justice Nasir Ul Mulk as Interim Prime Minister Till General Elections

Islamabad, May 28: Former Chief Justice Nasir Ul Mulk will preside over as the interim Prime Minister of Pakistan, till the general elections slated for July 25 are completed.

The outgoing PM, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, made the announcement on Monday. The decision to appoint Mulk, Abbasi said, was taken in consultation with Leader of Opposition Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah.

Abbasi's PML-N and Shah's PPP could not arrive to a consensus in the past five meetings held between the two sides to appoint the interim PM.

"We have chosen his name on the basis of merit. We took our parties into confidence and decided upon this name," Shah said after the decision was made public.

The point was reiterated by Abbasi, saying, "Every name was discussed, and this name was decided upon. It's a name no one can point fingers at."

Justice Mulk, who has also served earlier as the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan, is best known for his judgement in the contempt case against former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani.

As the judge of the Supreme Court, he also presided over the bench which signed a restraining order on November 3, 2007, when the then President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency and forcibly sent the judges home.

The interim government is unlikely to take any major policy decisions. However, Justice Mulk could be hard pressed to act on the macro-economic front, in wake of the worsening fiscal condition.

The elections in Pakistan are scheduled on July 25, across the 272 parliamentary constituencies. The prime contest, analysts claim, is between the ruling PML-N and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 28, 2018 02:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).