ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: Amid opposition protests and boycott, the ruling coalition in the National Assembly on Friday elected former finance minister Shaukat Aziz as prime minister, who vowed to give the country a competent government.
In a speech to a special session of the lower house after the vote held in the absence of his jailed rival Javed Hashmi, the prime minister-elect also promised to seek guidance from President Pervez Musharraf and party chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to provide "good governance." to the people.
He called the advent of his mid-term prime ministership a new chapter in the country's history and said: "We pledge to provide the country a responsible and competent government."
The opposition parties held noisy protests in the house and later boycotted the election of the country's 20th prime minister after speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain refused to call their candidate and Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) president Javed Hashmi from jail to take part in the process.
Mr Aziz got 191 votes of members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and allied parties, one more than 190 polled by PML president Shujaat Hussain on being elected transitional prime minister on June 29 after the resignation of former prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali and 19 more than the required simple majority in the 342-seat house.
Because of the walkout by opposition parties, which together have 145 members in the house, no vote was cast for Mr Hashmi, who is lodged in the Adiala jail near Rawalpindi, awaiting a high court hearing of his appeal against a conviction for sedition and attempted incitement to mutiny.
Mr Hashmi, who is also the acting president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), was the candidate of ARD, which is led by the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) and has 80 members in the house. But the 67-seat Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) also joined the protests and the boycott.
On Saturday, Mr Aziz will be sworn in by President Musharraf in the morning as the country's third prime minister in less than two years and second in less than two months, and later seek a mandatory vote of confidence from the National Assembly, for which a special session has been called at 3.00pm.
Friday's one-sided vote followed hours of suspense and high tensions after the speaker first reserved his ruling on an ARD demand to issue a production order for Mr Hashmi and later rejected it about two hours before the assembly session was to begin.
An altercation between the speaker and PML-N member Saad Rafiq marred a second meeting on the issue where the rejection of the demand was announced, witnesses said. They said the speaker had called sergeant-at-arms to expel Mr Rafiq from the room but the PML-N member himself walked out protesting.
Parliamentary sources said the speaker, who had accepted Mr Hashmi's nomination papers on Thursday despite objections from the ruling party, refused to call him to the house on the ground that the ARD president was convicted by a court. But PPP member Aitzaz Ahsan argued that the conviction had been challenged and Mr Hashmi was still member of the house and should have been called under the rules of procedure.
"Go Musharraf go", "fraud election unacceptable" "fake prime minister unacceptable," were some of the slogans chanted by ARD members as they stood in front of the rostrum for several minutes after a delayed start of the proceedings and while storming out of the house as the speaker announced the voting procedure.
In his speech Mr Aziz said he was thankful even to those "who did not vote for me and I am offering them a hand of friendship." He said his government would promote new traditions and values and take along those offering constructive criticism.
"We will consult them in connection with important policies and issues and give importance to their views." Mr Aziz thanked President Musharraf for first giving him an opportunity to serve as finance minister, praised him for extricating the country from the most difficult period of history and said: "We continue taking benefit of his wisdom and experience."
He also thanked Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain for paving the way for his election as prime minister and said: "I will continue to take guidance from his qualities of political far sightedness and tolerance in performing my duties."
Mr Aziz called for strengthening the democratic process and said: "We should realise that people expect us to give them a transparent and competent government that will put the country on the path of progress, provide good governance and give precedence to merit and ability."
On a day when nationalist parties had called for a general strike in Balochistan, the prime minister-elect said unity and cooperation rather than disputes would lead to national construction and progress and added: "We will have to adopt attitudes of tolerance, broad-mindedness and patience.
These are also the principles of Islamic teachings and it is necessary for us to adopt Islamic teachings in every sphere of our life. We will have to give freedom to people to fully develop their capabilities."
FOUR GOALS: Promising to follow the Quaid-i-Azam's ideas about good governance, he set these four goals for his government: - Protect people's life, property, honour and freedom. - Promote the culture of hard work, ability and merit. - Involve people in the march to progress rather than keeping them away from national issues. - Kindness to weak people and sternness with criminals, the corrupt and terrorists.
He pledged to give preference to national interest over every kind of personal interest and do even more to serve the country and Islam than what he did in last five years as a finance minister.
He said he had no magic wand but "we will use all capabilities given by Allah" for the good of the country. Mr Aziz said he had full faith in the ideology of Pakistan and his government would work hard to follow Islamic values in its social, economic and cultural plans. "In our personal and national attitudes, we will take guidance from the holy Quran and the last prophet of Allah, Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him)."
He described President Musharraf's concept of enlightened moderation as the best way to meet challenges facing the Islamic world and said his government would seek support of other Islamic countries for this strategy. He promised special attention to problems of women, children and minorities,
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Mr Aziz said his government would formulate an independent and honourable foreign policy in the best interests of people and strengthen relations with neighbours, regional and Islamic countries and big world powers.
"We will move forward the dialogue process with India and talk with an open mind on all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir," he said. "We wish to search for a just solution to the Kashmir problem that would be in accordance with aspirations of Kashmiris," he said.
DEFENCE: He said Pakistan was a peaceful country with no aggressive designs but was fully aware of the world and regional developments impinging on national security and defence.
"I assure this house that national defence will be the top priority of our new government," he said and added: "We will take every necessary step to strengthen the country's defence."
He said nuclear programme had a central place in the country's defence and it would not only be continued but made more efficient. In brief remarks, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said he believed Mr Aziz's agenda would bring a big change in the country but advised him to be aware of what he called hypocrites and flatterers.
Former prime minister Jamali said Mr Aziz's induction had quashed fears about the continuity of the democratic process started by President Musharraf and hoped the new prime minister would carry out his job as honourably as by two predecessors.
Others who spoke to greet Mr Aziz's election included outgoing Information and Broadcasting Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, outgoing Water and Power Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao and MQM parliamentary leader Farooq Sattar.
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.