ISLAMABAD: Almost all the mainstream political parties on Monday welcomed the nomination of Justice (r) Nasirul Mulk as interim prime minister of Pakistan.
Soon after the announcement was made, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman took to Twitter to congratulate the former chief justice. “Want to congratulate Justice (r) Nasirul Mulk on being appointed caretaker PM,” he tweeted.
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said his party welcomes the decision of naming Justice (r) Mulk as caretaker premier. “Justice (r) Mulk has an advantage as he was the head of a judicial commission probing into rigging in 2013 general elections,” he said. “He is aware of issues pertaining to elections,” he said. “We hope that he implements the recommendations he gave as acting chief election commissioner to ensure the upcoming general elections are transparent,” he added.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took to Twitter to hail the decision of appointing Justice (r) Mulk as caretaker premier. “Moving forward for the sake of strengthening democracy – congratulations to Justice (r) Nasirul Mulk on being appointed caretaker prime minister,” he tweeted.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Sahibzada Tariq Ullah said his party endorses the name of Justice (r) Mulk as caretaker PM. “He [Nasirul Mulk] has served as the chief justice of the Supreme Court. We hope that he will conduct free, fair and transparent elections,” the JI leader said.
Awami National Party (ANP) leader Zahid Khan said all political parties would agree on the name of Justice (r) Mulk. He termed the decision a victory for democracy and hoped that there would be a smooth transition of power after the next elections.
Published in Daily Times, May 29th 2018.