Islamabad [Pakistan], November 13 : Justice (retd) Arshad Hussain Shah has sworn in as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker chief minister, a day after former chief executive Azam Khan passed away following a brief illness, Dawn newspaper reported.
Dawn is a Pakistani English-language newspaper.
KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali administered the oath to Shah at a ceremony in Peshawar hours after ex-CM Mahmood Khan met former opposition leader Akram Khan Durrani for consultation on the appointment of the new interim chief executive.
The governor had sent a letter to Mahmood and Durrani on Saturday, inviting them to begin the consultation process under Article 224(1A) of the Constitution for the next chief minister's appointment.
In the letter, the governor had said he was under constitutional obligation to call upon them. He added that as per the Constitution, the process should be completed in three days.
A notification issued after today's meeting, a copy of which is available with Dawn, said Durrani and Mahmood had agreed to appoint Shah as the caretaker CM under clause 1(A) of Article 224 of the Constitution, as per Dawn.
The same was subsequently sent to the KP governor, who later approved it.
Shah was appointed as the law minister in former CM Azam Khan's cabinet earlier this year. Previously, he also served as the chief justice of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Interim Pakistan Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar felicitated Shah on being sworn in as the KP chief executive. State broadcaster Radio Pakistan quoted the premier as saying that Shah's appointment had fulfilled a "very important constitutional requirement".
Kakar hoped the new KP chief minister would play his role in improving the province's administrative affairs and supporting the electoral watchdog in conducting transparent polls, the report added, as per Dawn.
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