Justice Khan has been selected on merit as he has made great contributions in the province and believes in justice, says Hoti. PHOTO: Zafar Aslam.
While other provinces are wrangling over interim chief ministers, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa took the lead on Friday and unveiled its caretaker chief executive: Justice (Retd) Tariq Parvez Khan, former chief justice of the Peshawar High Court.
In a rare show of political maturity, Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti and Leader of the Opposition in the provincial assembly Akram Khan Durrani named the caretaker chief minister at a joint news conference in Islamabad on Friday.
Three days ago, Hoti and Durrani had shortlisted 10-12 names in a marathon brainstorming session. They had promised to agree on a mutually acceptable nominee within a couple of days, which they did.
“I hope other provinces will follow suit and nominate an impartial caretaker chief minister as well as caretaker prime minister to pave the way for holding elections on time,” Hoti told journalists on Friday.
Justice (retd) Tariq Parvez Khan is a credible jurist and has been the chief justice of Peshawar High Court as well judge of the Supreme Court and enjoys great repute among the legal fraternity.
“According to the Constitution, the leader of the house and the leader of the opposition have significant role to kick-start the election process by forming an interim set-up in the province, which materialised today,” Hoti said. “We developed a consensus and agreed on the name of a person of unblemished character.”
Hoti said Justice Khan has been selected on merit as he has made great contributions in the province and believes in justice. He hoped the caretaker set-up in the leadership of Justice Khan could set an example to hold free, fair and transparent elections in the province.
Akram Durani said that since the country is passing through difficult times, he requests the provinces to resolve national issues by evolving consensus.
He thanked the chief minister for upholding Pakhtoon traditions and praised him for not writing letters. Rather, he said, Hoti visited my home and finalised the name of the caretaker chief minister through dialogue.
Political parties expressed their satisfaction over the nomination of Justice Khan.
“Justice Khan is an exemplar as a head of an [judicial] institution. His nomination as caretaker CM is a good omen,” said PML-N parliamentary leader in the K-P Assembly Pir Sabir Shah.
Jamaat-e-Islami Provincial Ameer Professor Ibrahim Khan said, “Justice Khan is a respectable person. My party welcomes his nomination.”
Jamiate Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl spokesperson Jalil Jan said that “there is nothing more to do as Justice Khan’s nomination comes after consultation between both the treasury and opposition benches.”
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial information secretary Aqeel Razaq said that though their party was not consulted on the caretaker CM, yet they know by looking at his past that “Justice Khan will prove to be a neutral caretaker CM.”
Sindh caretaker
Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah left for Islamabad to consult President Asif Zardari and Premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on the names proposed by the opposition for an interim chief minister.
The opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, Syed Sardar Ahmed, has proposed five names: Justice (Retd) Ghous Muhammad, Justice (Retd) Muneeb Ahmed Khan, Justice (retd) Mohmood Alam Rizvi, Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid and Barrister Habibur Rehman.
He also shared with the chief minister the names proposed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional – the two other opposition parties in the provincial assembly.
The PML-F’s choices are Hussain Abdullah Haroon, Aslam Sanjrani and Khair Muhammad Junejo, while PML-Q’s nominees are Justice (Retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid, Dr Azeem Almani and Justice (Retd) Muhammad Sadiq Leghari.
Interestingly, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has proposed Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid’s name for both interim chief minister in Sindh and caretaker prime minister.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2013.
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Now that's how you do things. Hats to Khyber Pakhtun Khwa Govt......!!!
A Great choice, kudos to all!