Justice (retd) Arshad Hussain Shah was sworn in as the new caretaker chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in a ceremony in Peshawar on Sunday. Earlier in the day, he was appointed for the post after a consensus between the stakeholders.

KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali administered the oath of the office to him.

Shah’s name was finalised after a discussion between Governor Haji Ghulam Ali, former CM Mahmood Khan, and ex-opposition leader Akram Durrani.

Former bureaucrat and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan passed away on Saturday. He was 89. With Khan’s death, his cabinet was also automatically dissolved.

The governor had invited Mahmood Khan and Durrani for a consultation on Sunday to finalise the name of a new interim CM.

Many were of the view that Khan’s death would lead to a legal conundrum in the province as they believed that the cabinet stood dissolved.

Article 224 empowers the president of Pakistan to appoint a caretaker prime minister and authorises governors to appoint interim CMs of provinces, legal expert Hafiz Ihsan told Aaj News on Saturday.

But caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi clarified that there was no crisis in the province and added that there was no room for any speculations.

“The spirit of the constitution is crystal clear and shall be followed in the letter and the spirit of the constitutional scheme, after the sad demise of the chief minister of KP,” Solangi had said.

Who is Justice (retd) Arshad Hussain Shah

The new caretaker KP CM carried a vast administrative experience and earned a “great name” as chief justice of the Supreme Appellate Court in Gilgit Baltistan, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.

He belonged to the Abbottabad district of the Hazara Division. Justice (retd) Shah was serving as a caretaker Law Minister in the cabinet of former interim CM Khan.

Justice (retd) Shah served as the chief justice of the Supreme Appellate Court in Gilgit Baltistan from 2019-2022.

The state-run news agency said that he decided on “important cases” besides initiating reforms for strengthening of law department in KP.

Meanwhile, the political and civil society leaders congratulated Shah on his new role and expressed the hope that he would make efforts by assisting the Election Commission of Pakistan in holding free, fair, and transparent election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Congratulatory messages

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar congratulated Justice (retd) Shah on taking oath as the caretaker CM of KP.

In a statement shared by the PTV News, the premier extended his best wishes to Shah.

After the death of former interim CM Khan, the appointment of Shah as his successor has fulfilled a “very important constitutional requirement”, Kakar said.

He expressed hope that the new caretaker chief minister would play his constitutional role in supporting the ECP in improving the administrative affairs of KP and conducting transparent elections.