Pakistan Sunday finally selected a caretaker prime minister, a retired judge, to head up an interim administration to guide the country through its historic election period.
Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, 84, was selected by the election commission after a parliamentary committee and rival parties failed to agree on a candidate. He comes from the troubled southwestern province of Baluchistan.
"We have picked Mir Hazar Khan Khoso after frankly and openly discussing all the four names forwarded to us," chief election commissioner Fakhruddin Ibrahim told reporters in Islamabad.
The outgoing government had proposed Khoso and a former central bank governor, while the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N, frontrunner to win the May 11 polls, put forward the name of another retired judge and a politician.
Khoso was selected a week after parliament dissolved and four days after President Asif Ali Zardari set the date of the general election.
The vote is set to mark the first time that an elected civilian government hands over to another in a country that has seen three military coups and four military rulers since partition from India in 1947.
The announcement was made just minutes before former military ruler Pervez Musharraf landed back in Pakistan after more than four years in exile, defying Taliban death threats in a bid to contest the May election.
Militant attacks and record levels of violence directed against the Shiite Muslim minority have raised fears about security for the polls in the nuclear-armed country of 180 million.
AFP
Sun Mar 24 2013
AWANI Ringkas: 46 negara guna 'autogate' | Kadar alkohol tinggi
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
ICJ tolak permintaan Israel untuk tangguh perbicaraan
Mahkamah Keadilan Antarabangsa (ICJ) menolak permintaan Israel untuk menangguhkan perbicaraan pada Khamis hingga minggu depan.
Sultan Perak perkenan belia baca khutbah Jumaat esok
Sultan Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah memperkenankan golongan belia diberikan penghormatan membaca khutbah Jumaat di masjid semua daerah di Perak esok.
Enam keldai akaun ditahan sebabkan kerugian sehingga RM106,030
Polis menahan enam individu yang dipercayai menjadi "keldai akaun" kepada beberapa sindiket penipuan.
Bekas penolong jurulatih boling dipenjara enam tahun lakukan amang seksual
Seorang bekas penolong jurulatih boling dijatuhi hukuman penjara enam tahun selepas didapati bersalah melakukan amang seksual fizikal terhadap seorang atlet Sukma.
Kementerian Pendidikan umum kursus pemerkasaan AI
Kementerian Pendidikan umum peningkatan kemahiran teknologi AI di kalangan guru.
Pemandu mengaku tidak bersalah mabuk, langgar atlet kayak kebangsaan
Seorang pembantu penyelia kilang dihadapkan ke Mahkamah Majistret di sini pada Khamis atas pertuduhan memandu di bawah pengaruh alkohol hingga menyebabkan kecederaan ke atas atlet kayak negara, Sabtu
KPM umum enam inisiatif antaranya lonjak kapasiti guru digital
Kementerian Pendidikan (KPM) hari ini mengumumkan beberapa inisiatif antaranya bagi melonjakkan kapasiti guru dalam bidang digital.
MEASAT, Mudah Healthtech jalin kerjasama, sedia telekesihatan Sihat Xpress pertama di Malaysia
Lebih 1,000 penduduk di Kampung Togop Darat 1, Ranau menikmati kemudahan kesihatan menerusi perkhidmatan telekesihatan Sihat Xpress yang pertama diperkenalkan di Malaysia.
CIDB KL buka 91 kertas siasatan pelbagai kesalahan
Sebanyak 174 lawatan ke tapak pembinaan di ibu negara telah dilaksanakan Lembaga Pembangunan Industri Pembinaan Malaysia (CIDB) Kuala Lumpur sepanjang Januari hingga Mei tahun ini.