Former Pakistan chief justice Nasirul Mulk caretaker PM until elections
Former chief justice Nasirul Mulk today took oath as Pakistan's seventh caretaker prime minister until general elections on July 25. President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to 67-year-old Mulk, who was unanimously nominated for the post by both the government and opposition. Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi described the retired judge as someone whose appointment "no one would object to".
Caretaker admin not to take any major decisions
The present government will complete the tenure on May 31 this year and the caretaker government will remain in office until a new government is elected. The caretaker administration will not make any major decisions. The job of the caretaker prime minister is to keep the country running between the dissolution of parliament and the new government being sworn in.
Seven prime ministers elected over 16 years
The oath-taking ceremony comes hours after the third National Assembly in a row managed to complete its five-year constitutional term. However, it is only the second National Assembly which completed its tenure, as the one which came into existence in 2002 continued to function under the former President Pervez Musharraf. The three National Assemblies have elected seven prime ministers over the last 16 years.
Mulk signed a restraining order when Musharraf declared emergency
Justice Mulk is one of the seven judges who signed a restraining order on November 3, 2007, when Musharraf imposed emergency and forcibly sent the judges home.
This is the second democratic transition of power in Pakistan
Mulk was born on August 17, 1950 in Mingora, Swat, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He worked as lawyer and judge for several years before his appointment as the 22nd Chief Justice of Pakistan in 2014. Pakistan experienced its first democratic transition of power in 2013, when Pakistan Peoples Party handed over power to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which had won the general elections.
