ECP appoints Justice (retd) Dost Mohammad Khan as KP chief minister

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) appointed on Tuesday Justice (retd) Dost Mohammad Khan as the caretaker chief minister (CM) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

ECP Additional Secretary Dr Akhtar Nazeer made the announcement while addressing a press conference outside the ECP office in Islamabad. He said that out of the four names that had been forwarded by the KP government and opposition for the CM position, the ECP has chosen Khan for the designation.

The other names proposed included Manzoor Afridi, and two bureaucrats Ijaz Qureshi and Hamayatullah Khan. Justice Khan has served as the Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court. He was elevated to the judge of Supreme Court on January 31, 2014.

Both the government and opposition failed to form a mutual consensus on the name, after which the matter had been taken to a six-member parliamentary committee. However, the committee too had been unable to reach a conclusion and the matter had been taken to the ECP.

Meanwhile, Punjab caretaker CM will likely be announced this week as a parliamentary committee on Wednesday will hold a meeting regarding the designation, local media reported.