The Hindu : National : Shujaat Hussain set for elevation as Prime Minister

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004

National

National

Shujaat Hussain set for elevation as Prime Minister

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JUNE 29. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was today elected the Leader of the Pakistan National Assembly, paving the way for his elevation to the post of Prime Minister, albeit temporarily.

Mr. Hussain will keep the Prime Minister's chair warm for Shaukat Aziz, an international banker-turned-politician who is the nominee of the President, till the latter is elected to the National Assembly.

It is indeed a bizarre spectacle and has raised questions as to why the President, Pervez Musharraf, was in such a haste to show the door to Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. In brief speeches following the election of Mr. Hussain, leaders from the Opposition benches raised the issue of military domination of polity, forcing an embarrassed Mr. Jamali to announce that he had quit on his own volition.

The managers of the ruling combine can certainly derive satisfaction as they managed to keep their flock together in the show of strength on the floor of the House. In a house of 345 members, Mr. Hussain secured the support of 190. His opponent and the Pakistan People's Party member, Mahdoom Amin Fahim, got only 76 votes.

As per the provisions of the Constitution, a candidate aspiring to be the Leader of the National Assembly [the Prime Minister] should command the support of at least 50 per cent of the strength of the House.

The election again brought to the fore the fissures within the Opposition. The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the alliance of six religious parties, chose to abstain from the election after the PPP rejected the conditional support of its leaders. The MMA had said that it would vote for the Opposition candidate if the PPP withdrew its private member's bill seeking major changes in the Hudood Ordinance, dealing with rape and molestation.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Fahim gave a representation to the Election Commission seeking the disqualification of Mr. Hussain on the plea that he is a loan defaulter. As per law, several categories of persons, including defaulters, cannot take part in elections. The PPP wanted immediate action but the Election Commission has not commented on the petition.

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