Khoso handed the country’s reins

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday appointed Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, a retired judge, as caretaker prime minister of Pakistan.
Khoso belongs to Jaffarabad district of Balochistan and would take oath of his office today (Monday) at 1300 hours from President Asif Ali Zardari.
The former judge enjoys good reputation for his honesty as there are no corruption charges against him, though opposition parties consider him loyal to the Pakistan People’s Party and criticised him for taking oath under the PCO during the tenure of former president General Zaiul Haq.
“We reviewed profiles of all names forwarded by parliamentary committee in detail and finally picked Justice (r) Khoso for the slot of caretaker prime minister,” Chief Election Commission Fakhruddin G Ebrahim told reporters while announcing the caretaker PM’s name.
Khoso’s name was proposed by the Pakistan People’s Party.
The CEC said five-member commission appointed Mir Hazar Khan Khoso as prime minister with majority of votes, as only member from Punjab Justice (r) Riaz Kiyani opposed the same, as he was in favour of opposition nominee Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid.
Khoso, 84, graduated from University of Sindh in 1954 and passed LLB in 1956 from Karachi University. Later in 1977, he was appointed additional judge of the Balochistan High Court and was then given a permanent seat in 1987.
He served as Balochistan High Court chief justice for two years from December 1989 to September 1991. He also served as the chief judge of Federal Shariat Court.
Khoso undertook his last political assignment back in 1991, when he served as the acting governor of Balochistan for three months.
On Sunday, the second day of deliberations of the Election Commission, the commission gave verdict in favour of Justice (r) Khoso.
The commission reviewed profiles of all four nominees- two each from the former PPP government and the opposition.
The government had proposed the names of former State Bank governor Dr Ishrat Hussain and Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, while the opposition suggested the names of Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid and Sindhi nationalist leader Rasul Bakhsh Palejo for the slot of caretaker prime minister.
The matter of appointment of caretaker prime minister was referred to the ECP on Friday night after the prime minister and leader of the opposition as well as the parliamentary committee failed to achieve consensus.
Before his appointment as the country’s chief executive, Khoso was serving as the chairman of Balochistan Zakat Council.
The PPP connection: Critics allege that Khoso always remained aligned with the PPP. Citing Khoso’s last job, they said he was given a lucrative job of the PPP government in 2009 when the PPP gave him the chairmanship of a commission formed to reinstate all employees who had been appointed by various PPP governments period 1993 to 1996, but were later sacked by successive government of the PML-N. It is said that hundreds of people were reinstated without proper scrutiny or merit.
Maiden media briefing: In the briefing after his nomination as prime minister, prime minister-elect Khoso said there was no question of delaying the polls.
To a question on the possible situation in which election had to be postponed, he said: “Let me make it clear that elections will be held on time, so the question of delaying elections makes no sense,” he said.
Khoso said his top priority was to hold free, fair and transparent elections. He said he would extend his full support to the ECP.
To a query, he said his cabinet would comprise 10 to 12 ministers.
He said, “Holding election, law and order and economic condition are the major challenges before me.”
To another question regarding the deteriorating law and order in the country, he said maintaining law and order was a provincial subject, but he would provide full support to provinces in this regard.
Khoso added that he would soon hold a meeting with provincial chief executives.
Surprising many, the newly-appointed prime minister said that he did not the know names of provincial governors, except that of Balochistan Governor Nawabazada Zulfiqar Magsi. The name of the caretaker prime minister was decided in the second ECP sitting on Sunday, as the previous deliberations on Saturday had ended indecisively owing to the absence of Sindh member Justice (r) Muhammad Roshan.
President Asif Ali Zardri welcomed the nomination of Justice (r) Khoso as the caretaker prime minister.
He said the nomination of Khoso was a culmination of a part of the constitutional process to ensure free and fair elections and would be welcomed by all across the political divide.
Former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf telephoned Khoso after the ECP decision to congratulate the PM-elect.
Ashraf extended best wishes and expressed confidence that the country would benefit from Khoso’s knowledge, capabilities and experience.