Former chief secretary Fazalur Rahman takes oath as Sindh caretaker CM
Sindh's former chief secretary Fazalur Rahman on Saturday took oath as the caretaker chief minister of the province.
Rahman was the consensus candidate of the ruling PPP and all opposition groups in the now dissolved Sindh Assembly for the office of the caretaker CM.
Governor Muhammad Zubair administered the oath to Rahman under Article 224 of the Constitution at a ceremony held at the Governor House. The ceremony was attended by the outgoing chief minister Murad Ali Shah, members of political parties and officers of law enforcement agencies, including Inspector General Sindh A.D. Khowaja.
The caretaker chief minister is expected to present names of his cabinet members to the governor within the next two to three days.
Rahman was presented with a guard of honour after his arrival at the Chief Minister House.
He is the first among the provincial caretaker chief ministers to take oath as other provinces are still undecided on the names for the interim posts.
A former chief secretary, Rahman emerged as the consensus candidate for the top slot on Thursday night — which was the last day for outgoing Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah and leader of the opposition Khwaja Izharul Hasan to jointly name their nominee — after the dissolution of the provincial assembly on completion of its tenure on May 28.
Before joining the Sindh government, Rahman had served as federal secretary for ports and shipping. He served as the Sindh chief secretary between 2005 and 2010, with a break of eight months when Shakil Durrani and Ejaz Qureshi had served as chief secretary.
He had also served as secretary of the excise and finance departments and remained the accountant general of the province.
After retirement, he also served as an adviser to former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah.
Until his announcement as the caretaker chief minister, he was a member of a committee formed for the appointment of vice chancellors of the public sector universities in the province.