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| Sunday, 29 August 2004 |
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Musharraf-ally sworn in as Pakistan prime minister ISLAMABAD, Saturday (Reuters) Pakistan's new prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, a technocrat and trusted ally of military leader President Pervez Musharraf, was sworn on Saturday. A former Citibank executive who has led the turnaround of the economy from the verge of bankruptcy over the past five years, Aziz was elected to the post on Friday by a vote in the National Assembly, a formality given its pro-military majority. Musharraf, dressed in a suit rather than military uniform, stood alongside Aziz at the President's House as the two men read the swearing in oath following a Muslim prayer and the playing of the national anthem by a military band. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the information minister in the former cabinet, said Aziz would announce his cabinet on Tuesday or Wednesday. Aziz is expected to keep the finance portfolio. He is also expected to retain key ministers, including Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, who has represented Pakistan in recent peace talks with nuclear-armed neighbour India, officials said. Officials and analysts said there would be no changes in Pakistan's support for the U.S.-led war on terror, as Musharraf, who wields ultimate power as president, would continue to lead the fight against Islamic militancy and direct foreign policy. In his acceptance speech on Friday, Aziz vowed to continue to deal strictly with terrorism and corruption and also to take forward the peace process with India "with an open mind". Aziz secured 191 votes in the 342-seat house. Opposition groups boycotted the vote after the speaker refused to allow their candidate, Javed Hashmi, who is serving a life term in jail for defaming the military, to attend the vote. Musharraf hand-picked Aziz in June after abrupt resignation of prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who had a falling out with the president. Aziz needed to win a seat in parliament's lower house National Assembly to make him eligible for the post, so Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain took over as interim prime minister. Aziz won two seats in the National Assembly this month and Hussain resigned last week to allow Aziz to take over. |
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