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| Thursday, 1 July 2004 |
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New Pakistani interim premier elected ISLAMABAD, Wednesday (AFP) The head of Pakistan's army-backed ruling party Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was named prime minister Tuesday, becoming the second premier under military ruler President Pervez Musharraf after a snap reshuffle that critics said made a mockery of democracy. Shujaat, a two-time former minister and wealthy industrialist who turns 59 next month, easily won a national assembly vote to fill the slot made vacant by Zafarullah Jamali's sudden resignation on Saturday. Jamali, also from Shujaat's pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, quit without explanation after months of rumours that General Musharraf, the army chief who still wields ultimate power despite the presence of an elected parliament, was fed up with his lacklustre performance. Shujaat becomes the 19th prime minister in Pakistan's 54-year history, but he will only be in the post for two months to pave the way for outgoing Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz. Aziz, a former international investment banker, must make a transition from the senate to the assembly. Aziz was named by ruling party figures as the future premier, without consulting the parliament. Shujaat, who scored 190 votes in the 342-seat assembly, faced only one challenger, Makhdoom Amin Fahim of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, who took 76 votes on behalf of the secular opposition. A six-party Islamist alliance boycotted the vote and sat on the sidelines of the house. Shujaat said he had not sought the prime minister's post, but made no mention of Aziz. "I want to make it clear that I never aspired for this office I swear upon God I never lobbied for the post of prime minister," he told the assembly in his acceptance speech. He vowed to wage a "jihad" against terrorism and lawlessness and to pursue Musharraf's prized policy of "enlightened, moderate" Islam. "We have to face two fronts - first to defend the religion and Islamic values and second to (practice) good governance," he said. "We will have to end negative politics and stop mudslinging and false allegations. We will follow the teaching of and the life of the Prophet Mohammad. The surprise reshuffle has raised new concerns over the progress of democracy under Musharraf, who stormed to power in a bloodless army coup in October 1999. "In democracy there is freedom, if there is no freedom there is no democracy. This is dictatorship," Fahim told legislators after the vote. Critics slammed the apparently forced resignation of Jamali and the appointment of Aziz without parliamentary consultation as a gross aberration of democracy. |
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