Retd judge is Pak caretaker PM

My first priority is holding free and fair polls, the 84-year-old former judge told the media shortly after he was chosen as the caretaker Prime Minister by the Election Commission Sunday afternoon.

The administration will try to ensure that the law and order situation is good (for the polls), Khoso,who is known for honesty,said when he was asked to list his priorities. He described the upcoming elections,the law and order situation and Pakistans financial position as the biggest challenges facing the interim set-up.

Khoso,a former Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court and Federal Shariah Court,was chosen as the caretaker premier by the Election Commission after the Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition and a bipartisan parliamentary committee were unable to forge consensus on the issue.

Khoso said: Inshallah,the polls will be held on time. The law and order situation is bad and I will work with the (caretaker provincial) Chief Ministers to improve law and order. Khoso said his interim Cabinet would have about a dozen members. The cabinet will have as many members as necessary. But it will not be very large. There will be about 12 to 13 members, he said.

Khoso asserted that the polls would be held on time and the term of the caretaker set-up would not be extended under any circumstances.

Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Khoso would take oath as the caretaker Prime Minister on Monday.

President Asif Ali Zardari welcomed Khosos nomination saying: The forthcoming general election under a neutral caretaker set-up and an independent and empowered Election Commission… for the first time in the countrys history was a very significant and welcome development that should help in banishing the spectre of manipulated power transfer.

The PPP-led government completed its five-year term on March 16 and the general election will be held on May 11,marking the first democratic transition in the countrys history which has seen several coups.

Musharraf Ends Exile

Pervez Musharraf,the former commando-turned-politician returned to Pakistan on Sunday to lead his party in the May 11 polls,seeks to stage a political comeback after four years of self-imposed exile abroad.

Commissioned in the Pakistan Army in 1964,Musharraf rose to prominence after being appointed to the four-star general in 1998 by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

After seizing power in a coup in 1999,the 69-year-old became one of Pakistans longest-serving rulers. He served as President from 2001 until 2008. Musharraf survived three assassination attempts when in office from 1999 to 2008.

Prior to that,he was the Chief of Army Staff from October 1998 till November 2007,and was also the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of Pakistan Armed Forces from 1998 until 2001.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks,he closely allied with the US and the allied powers in the War on Terror

He has been accused of not doing enough to protect former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto from being assassinated in 2007,despite allegedly being aware of Taliban plans to kill her. PTI