PESHAWAR – Former Supreme Court Justice Dost Muhammad Khan took oath as the caretaker chief minister of Khyber Pahtunkhawa on Wednesday.
Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra administered the oath to Justice Khan in a ceremony attended by former KP CM Pervez Khattak and other dignitaries from the province.
Justice Khan was appointed as the caretaker CM by the Election Commission of Pakistan after impasse persisted between the former KP government and the Opposition on the matter.
The stalemate could not be broken during meetings of a parliamentary committee, after which the KP government and Opposition sent the polls watchdog, four names to be considered for the post.
The JUI-F had proposed Justice Khan’s name along with businessman Manzoor Afridi, whereas PTI had suggested the names of two bureaucrats Ijaz Qureshi and Hamayatullah Khan and retired Justice Dost Muhammad.
Khan also served as Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court from 17 November 2011 to 31 January 2014. He refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) on 3 November 2007 and rejected all kinds of offers. Justice Khan will be leading the province and be conducting the forthcoming polls scheduled on July 25.
Earlier, the PTI had agreed on the name of Manzoor Afridi for the caretaker chief minister; the party even released an official handout and a picture of Afridi with party chairman Imran Khan at his Banigala residence, confirming that the tycoon would steer the province as the interim chief executive.
However, within 24 hours, the PTI reversed its decision and withdrew the name of Afridi.
The opposition parties in the KP Assembly had alleged that the then chief minister Pervez Khattak and the JUI-F leaders had received huge amounts from Manzoor Afridi for his nomination as the chief minister.
The allegations, however, were rejected both by Khattak and the JUI-F leadership.
Uptill now, Punjab and Balochistan are still indecisive over the appointment of the interim chief minister.
