ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain resigned on Wednesday after a 57-day transitional term, clearing the way for Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz to be elected as his successor on Friday.
The prime minister announced his decision to step down in a brief speech to the lower house, saying he was 'returning the trust entrusted to me by the nation and parliament'.
President Pervez Musharraf later accepted Chaudhry Shujaat's resignation but, according to an official announcement, asked him to continue in office until the new prime minister takes over, possibly on Saturday.
Hours after the National Assembly was prorogued after a 13-day session, the president summoned a special session of the house to be held on Friday at 4pm to elect the new prime minister, or the leader of the house.
Although Mr Aziz is certain to win the election in the 342-seat house as the nominee of the majority ruling coalition, the opposition Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy is likely to put up a token contest - as it did against Chaudhry Shujaat on June 29 - to re-establish its claim to the office of opposition leader denied to it.
The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, the other opposition grouping whose Secretary-General Maulana Fazlur Rehman occupies the opposition leader's office, has announced that it would stay away from the contest, apparently to avoid being seen polling less votes than those of the ARD led by the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP).
In his speech, Chaudhry Shujaat said he was grateful to Allah to be leaving his office with honour and dignity after discharging his obligations and thanked parliament members for extending cooperation to him.
He said while Mr Shaukat Aziz would take the office in next few days, 'we will have to speed up the process of economic reforms to give relief to people'. The government would also have to take 'difficult' decisions in the national interest 'like those taken at times by President Pervez Musharraf for national security', Chaudhry Shujaat said, attracting a protesting shout of 'not accepted' from a PML-N member Khawaja Saad Rafiq.
ELECTION PROCESS: National Assembly Secretary Mehmood Saleem Mahmood later issued a letter to all members of the house informing them of the procedure for the election of the prime minister, or what he called 'ascertainment of the member who commands the confidence of the members of the National Assembly'.
It said nomination papers of the candidates for prime minister would be received by 2pm on Aug 26 and scrutinized by the speaker in the presence of candidates and their proposers and seconders at 3pm. The voting will be held on Aug 27 through the usual process of parliamentary division.
NAJAF ACTION CONDEMNED: In its business on Wednesday, the National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution moved by members from both the treasury and opposition benches expressing 'graver concern' of the house over what it called desecration of the mausoleum of Hazrat Ali (RA) in Najaf.
The resolution demanded that the US forces refrain from harming the sanctity of holy places, hurting the emotions of Muslims and end what it called aggression across Iraq.
It asked the Organization of Islamic Conference to find a solution to problems facing the Islamic world and urged the government to make its efforts more effective to bring to an end 'desecration' of Hazrat Ali's (RA) mausoleum.
PRISONERS IN AFGHANISTAN: Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri earlier told the house that Afghan President Hamid Karzai had assured Islamabad that Kabul would hand over Pakistani prisoners held in Afghanistan within 'next few days'.
He said Mr Karzai, during his recent visit to Islamabad, gave the assurance when Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain raised the issue of prisoners with him during a meeting and asked for their release on humanitarian grounds.
But, he said, the prisoners, who were arrested after the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, would go through a joint investigation before being released. Mr Kasuri said that as a goodwill gesture the prime minister had ordered the release of those Afghan nationals from Pakistani jails who were involved in petty crimes.
The foreign minister said the Afghan government had previously been telling Pakistan that it was not releasing the prisoners because of US objections. But, he said, US Secretary of State Colin Powell informed Pakistan that Washington was withdrawing its objections when this matter was taken up with him during a visit to Pakistan.
Mr Kasuri said he reminded the Afghan president of the US decision in the presence of the prime minister, and it was decided that prisoners would be handed over to Pakistan within next few days.
The minister said some of the prisoners had tried to commit suicide, some were suffering from different diseases, lacked medical treatment and majority of them had not met their families for a long time.
BILL WITHDRAWN: On a motion moved by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Raza Hayat Hiraj, the house allowed the government to withdrew its Removal from Service (Special Powers) (Second Amendment) Bill, 2003, as recommended by the standing committee on cabinet secretariat.
The committee said in its report that an identical bill had already been passed by the house in April last year and recommended that the new bill need not be processed for further legislation.
Amid protests from opposition members about the activities of the private Bahria Town housing firm near Rawalpindi, Mr Hiraj said the government would have no objection to the formation of a house committee to probe the matter.
Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain informed the house that he had met some opposition members earlier in the morning to discuss the matter. On a point of order by PPP President Amin Fahim, Health Minister Nasir Khan denied reports about poor quality of polio vaccine being administered in the country.
"The quality of the vaccine cannot be compromised," the minister said. Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat assured the speaker that facts would be collected on a complaint by PPP' Manzoor Wassan about the alleged seizure of his vehicle and licensed weapons by police in Mirpurkhas.
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