Though patently placed by President Musharraf, Pakistan's new prime minister is inspiring cautious optimism, writes Iffat Idris The 21st prime minister of Pakistan was sworn into office on Saturday 28 August. While question marks remain over the manner in which he rose to the position, there is also optimism about the fact that Shaukat Aziz is now premier. The position of prime minister became vacant at the end of June when incumbent Mir Zafarullah Jamali abruptly resigned. Jamali headed a coalition government in which the Pakistan Muslim League, Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) was the dominant party. Jamali, however, lacked a strong political base and was in effect little more than a figurehead. When differences emerged between him and President Musharraf -- the real power in Pakistan -- the former's departure became inevitable. Post-Jamali arrangements were something of a novelty for Pakistan. PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was sworn in as interim prime minister, while Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz was nominated prime minister- designate. The reason for this somewhat unconventional succession was that Shaukat Aziz did not hold a seat in the National Assembly -- one of the requisites for the post of prime minister. The interim premiership of Chaudhry Shujaat was designed to allow Aziz time to win a seat. What followed was a quite blatant exercise in political manipulation. Shaukat Aziz resigned from his seat in the Senate, or upper house of parliament. Two sitting members of the National Assembly from the ruling PML-Q resigned their seats and Aziz duly filed nomination papers to stand in the subsequent by-elections. The two constituencies he contested were Attock in northern Punjab and Tharparkar in Sind -- one of the rare constituencies in Pakistan with a sizeable Hindu population. Both seats had been won by PML-Q candidates with big majorities in the October 2002 elections. Polling in Attock and Tharparkar took place in mid- August. Shaukat Aziz won a big majority in both Attock and Tharparkar. While the Attock result was generally accepted, many eyebrows were raised over the Tharparkar result. Election observers reported very little activity at the polls, but the tally at the end of the day showed an almost 90 per cent turnout. The opposition has accused the government of blatant ballot box stuffing. With a seat in the National Assembly -- Aziz wisely chose to retain the Attock seat -- the next step was the resignation of interim Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat and the nomination of Aziz as premier. A special session of the National Assembly was held on Saturday to vote in the new prime minister. The opposition parties nominated Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz (PML-N) leader, Javed Hashmi, as their joint candidate. Hashmi is currently serving a 23-year jail sentence for sedition and other charges, but retains the seat he won in the National Assembly. The assembly's speaker, however, refused to allow Hashmi to be brought out of jail for the vote. In protest, the opposition boycotted the proceedings. Shaukat Aziz therefore received 191 votes in the 342-seat assembly, while Hashmi got none. Having won the vote in the National Assembly, Shaukat Aziz was sworn in as prime minister by President Pervez Musharraf. In a telling point in his acceptance speech, the new premier promised to "seek guidance" from the president, and praised the contribution he has made to Pakistan. Aziz's deference to the president is no surprise given that he was hand-picked for his new position by Musharraf. Shaukat Aziz does not have a political background. Born in Karachi, he joined Citibank in 1969 and had a 30-year career as an international banker. It was only in 1999, following the military coup that ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, that he was brought into government by Pervez Musharraf to serve as finance minister. In that position -- which he has held for the past five years -- he has performed well. Supporters, including many in the international community, credit him with turning Pakistan's economy around. Growth is running at a respectable 6.4 per cent, foreign currency reserves are up and the economy is stable. Critics, however, attribute this "success" to expatriate Pakistanis sending money home after 9/11, and to debt write-offs and grants by the international community. They say it is not the result of genuine domestic growth -- seen, for example, in new jobs. And, they say, while the figures are impressive, Aziz has done little to improve the lives of Pakistan's impoverished masses. Supporters and critics alike do, however, agree that Aziz is a competent man with the brains, skills and experience to run the country. That is one of the reasons for optimism about his appointment. Perhaps a technocrat like Aziz will finally be able to address the many endemic problems of maladministration and poor management in Pakistan. The other reason for optimism stems, ironically, from the fact that Aziz does not have a political background and is the personal choice of President Musharraf. While the latter means he will be given the space to implement his policies, the former means he is not beholden to political supporters and cronies. Because he is not strongly affiliated to any one party, he is in a better position to work with all parties -- including the opposition -- to get policies implemented. Coupled with the fact that he is personally rich -- the result of a successful banking career -- this augurs well that his government will not be riddled with the corruption of previous civilian governments. Aziz will name his new cabinet this week but is widely expected to retain the finance portfolio. Domestic and foreign investors will take heart from the consequent continuity in economic policy. As far as foreign policy and the war on terror are concerned, do not expect any changes under the new prime minister. An urbane, educated man who has spent much of his life in the West (indeed, he holds US citizenship), Shaukat Aziz shares the president's commitment to supporting the US and fighting militant groups in Pakistan. Unfortunately for Aziz, this means that he is now a target of those militant groups in the same way that Musharraf is. While campaigning in Attock, a suicide bomber approached the finance minister's car as he was leaving a rally on 30 July. Aziz survived the blast, but his driver and seven other people were killed. In his first speech as prime minister, Shaukat Aziz pledged to fight terrorism, take the fruits of economic progress to the grassroots and reduce poverty, promote Pakistan's national interests in its foreign policy and give the country a government that would be competent, hard working and honest. Nice words, but a pretty tall order to deliver.
