PESHAWAR, Oct 11: The caretaker Chief Minister of the NWFP, Shamsul Mulk, on Thursday said that holding free and fair elections was his priority.

Speaking to reporters shortly after taking oath of office here at the Governor’s House, Mr Mulk said that as a caretaker chief minister he was constitutionally mandated to ensure free and fair elections.

He said he would not speak on the prevailing law and order situation in the NWFP. “I am not here for five years.

“I am here for a limited time to ensure free and transparent elections. Law and order requires long-term planning and I don’t have that much time,” he told a reporter.

The caretaker chief minister, who had said earlier that he did not know who his cabinet colleagues would be, told reporters that forming a cabinet was not too much of a problem. It would soon be formed.

A strong supporter of the Kalabagh dam, an issue that has not won him too many supporters in the NWFP, the caretaker chief minister refused to comment on the controversial issue. But he did say that decisions changed with the times.

He also declined to comment on protests by the JUI-F and the ANP over his nomination as caretaker chief minister, saying he did not want to indulge in polemics.

A 74-year-old engineer by profession, Mr Mulk has served as chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority. He also served as a cabinet minister following the 1999 coup by Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Governor Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai administered oath to Mr Mulk. Federal ministers Salim Saifullah Khan and Amir Muqam, Former speaker of NWFP Assembly Bakht Jehan Khan, PML-Q leaders, senior civil officers, diplomats, his former colleagues in the post-1999 cabinet and a large number of notables attended the simple ceremony.