ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, who is set to become prime minister next week, said on Thursday that by electing him with a thumping majority from Attock and Tharparkar, the people "have rejected the opposition's politics of negativism."

He said this while speaking at a parliamentary party meeting of the ruling PML and its allies here on Thursday. Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain presided over the meeting.

Mr Aziz thanked cabinet colleagues and party members in parliament and provincial assemblies for supporting him during the by-election campaign. He said that the turnout in Attock was 46 per cent where he defeated his opponent by a margin of 46,000 votes.

He thanked minority voters of Tharparkar who, he said, gave him 100 per cent votes. In Tharparkar, he said, he secured a lead of 140,000 against his opponent, adding that in some areas the opposition candidate could not even get a single vote.

Mr Aziz thanked the Election Commission of Pakistan and provincial governments for holding "a free, fair and transparent election in the two constituencies." He assured that he would take steps on a priority basis for the development of Attock and Tharparkar.

Talking to the PTV, he pledged to serve the nation with renewed commitment and vigour. "Efforts will be made to bring a positive change in the life of common man and put the country's economy on right track," he said.

He said that pursuing the policies initiated by President Pervez Musharraf and under the leadership of PML president Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain "we will make all-out efforts to make Pakistan a modern, progressive and enlightened Islamic welfare state." -APP