Transition phase: Govt, opposition discuss caretaker setup

Hoti says next chief minister may be retired bureaucrat, judge.

PESHAWAR:

With a month left for the government’s tenure to end, the chief minister and opposition leader held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the caretaker setup.

The meeting was held at Leader of Opposition Akram Khan Durrani’s house following which the two politicians addressed the media.

Chief Minister (CM) Amir Haider Khan Hoti said so far nine names for the caretaker chief minister have been presented, which will be decided upon in following meetings. “The names are confidential and will be made public after both the ruling and opposition parties settle the matter,” he said.



The CM did give a clue, however, on who the next man will be. “The interim chief minister  might be a retired judge or bureaucrat,” he said, further quipping “Politicians never retire from serving people.”

“The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has also presented some names, but we cannot disclose them as yet,” he said. Last week, however, PPP minister Rahimdad Khan had said his party has yet to do any homework for the caretaker setup in the province.

Hoti, who belongs to the Awami National Party (ANP), maintained the meeting was held in a cordial environment and that no deadline has been given for establishing the interim government. “Every decision we take will be in accordance with the Constitution,” he said.

Durrani, who belongs to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), appreciated Hoti’s initiative and said so far no one in the centre or other provinces had met to decide upon the interim government.



“We want to select the caretaker CM by consensus so that it is acceptable for everyone,” he said. He added they would consult other opposition parties as well before presenting their suggestions to the government. “The main objective of the process is to bring a caretaker CM who can be trusted to hold transparent elections,” the opposition leader said.

Hoti added the possible coalition between the ANP and JUI-F was not discussed in the meeting.

Earlier, people familiar with the government had said the top contenders for chief minister are former provincial minister Mohsin Aziz and justice (retired) Mian Ajmal.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2013.