ISLAMABAD: After being elected as Pakistan’s 25th Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf vowed to conduct free and fair elections and sought the support of opposition parties.
Ashraf, who was elected as the prime minister by 211 votes as opposed to Pakistan Muslim League—Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Mehtab Abbasi’s 89 votes, made his first parliamentary speech on Friday.
The newly-elected prime minister said “for the sake of democracy, there is a need for free and fair elections in the country. Conducting elections will be a challenge but the party (PPP) will make this happen to continue the democratic process.”
He said that his party does not want politics of conflict and it believes in the philosophy of reconciliation. Ashraf invited the opposition parties to have talks with the government.
The former federal minister said that his first priority was the solution of Balochistan issue. "Our party wants to hold talks with Baloch leaders," Ashraf said, while promising to create employment opportunities for the people of the province.
Ashraf also underlined the need for peaceful coexistence with Afghanistan, Iran and India.
"We will continue to hold talks with our neighbours to reach peaceful solutions on matters of conflict," he said while addressing the speaker and members of the parliament.
Ashraf said that Pakistan should also have better relations with the Muslim world an the regional blocs like European Union (EU).
Meanwhile, PML-N's candidate Mehtab Abbasi said "this day will be etched in Pakistan's democratic history."