Imran Khan on Monday nominated Pakistan’s former chief justice, Gulzar Ahmed, as caretaker prime minister amid the ongoing political crisis in the country.

The announcement comes after President Arif Alvi sent letters to  Khan and Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif seeking suggestions for the appointment of a caretaker prime minister.

“In response to the President’s letter, after consultation and approval by the PTI Core Committee, Prime Minister Imran Khan has nominated Pakistan’s former chief justice Gulzar Ahmed for the post of caretaker Prime Minister,” Fawad Chaudhry, former information minister and senior leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, said, PTI reported. 

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In his letter, President Alvi said that in case they do not agree on the appointment of the caretaker prime minister within three days of the dissolution of the Parliament, they shall forward two nominees each to a committee to be constituted by the Speaker. 

The Constitution has empowered the president to appoint a caretaker prime minister in consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National Assembly, the President’s Secretariat said in a statement.

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According to the constitution, a caretaker government is set up to organize elections in the country. Imran Khan will continue as the prime minister till the appointment of a caretaker prime minister.

Who is Gulzar Ahmed?

Born in 1957, Gulzar Ahmed served as Chief Justice of Pakistan from December 2019 until his retirement in February 2022.

The 65-year-old was part of a five-judge bench that disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Papers case.

Justice Ahmed had also ordered authorities to reconstruct a temple that was vandalised by a mob in northwest Pakistan. He ordered that the money for the restoration work must be recovered from the attackers whose actions had caused “international embarrassment” to the country. 

He had attended a grand function at the rebuilt temple to celebrate the Diwali festival in 2021 and to express solidarity with the members of the Hindu community.