ISLAMABAD, June 23: Mr Justice Javed Iqbal of the Supreme Court took oath of office on Friday as Acting Chief Election Commissioner at a ceremony held at the Supreme Court building.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry administered the oath.

Justice Iqbal will be Acting Chief Election Commissioner in the absence of Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Qazi Mohammad Farooq who is abroad on an official visit.

Talking to mediamen after the ceremony, Justice Iqbal said: “Free, fair and transparent elections are imperative in the national interest as well as for strengthening democracy in the country.”

Regarding formation of a caretaker government, he said: “Such provisions are very much in the Constitution. We will have to examine it according to the Constitution. Parliament is a sovereign forum and other institutions, even the Supreme Court of Pakistan, are a creation of parliament.”

Replying to a question about powers of assemblies to elect a president twice during their tenure, Justice Javed Iqbal said: “This is a constitutional matter and has become controversial nowadays. In my opinion, parliament has powers to decide about it.”

He said that there was no bar in the constitution regarding re-election of the president and nor on present assemblies to re-elect the president.

He said that in the Britain form of government there was no room for a uniformed president, but in Pakistan the situation was different and the parliament itself had elected the president.—Agencies