Nasir-ul-Mulk, former Pakistan chief justice, appointed interim prime minister until General Election on 25 July

Pakistan on Monday appointed former chief justice Nasir-ul-Mulk as interim prime minister until General Elections are held on 25 July, premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said.

“No Pakistani can lift a finger (against) such a name,” Abbasi told reporters, seated next to Opposition leader Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah.

Abbasi also said that his role as caretaker prime minister will be in favour of the country and the democratic process, according to a report in Dawn . “We have chosen his name on the basis of merit. We took our parties into confidence and decided upon this name,” he added.

While saying that Mulk has played a historic role in the judiciary and when he was a lawyer, Khan said he is hopeful that the elections on 25 July will be conducted in a fair and impartial way.

The announcement ends weeks of wrangling between Abbasi’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Shah’s Pakistan People’s Party.

Mulk, who also served as the interim chief of the Election Commission of Pakistan, will head a technocratic government until elections as the current government and Parliament will be dissolved on Thursday.

The interim administration usually does not make any major decisions until the new government is elected, though it may be forced to act to shore up the economy amid a worsening macro-economic outlook.

In 2015, Mulk put his gavel away after a 13-month long stint as head of the country’s superior judiciary, according to a report in The Express Tribune . During his short tenure, Mulk gave four historical judgments, which strengthened democracy in the country, the report added.

He was also head of the judicial commission which probed PTI’s rigging allegations in the 2013 election.

Pakistan will hold General Elections on 25 July. The outgoing government of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is only the second to complete a five year term in office, which underscores a democratic transition in the nuclear armed nation.

With inputs from Reuters