Shaukat Aziz to be next Pakistani PM

Newly nominated Pakistani Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has said former Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz will be next prime minister after being elected member of the National Assembly, local English-language newspaper Dawn reported here on Sunday.

"I shall continue as Prime Minister till Shaukat Aziz is elected member of the National Assembly because the Constitution does not provide for election of a Senator as Prime Minister," Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Saturday night told a press conference here.

Shaukat Aziz will contest National Assembly elections to be eligible for the office of the prime minister, he said.

Chaudhry Shujaat said Shaukat Aziz is the most appropriate candidate for premiership and that he hoped, under the leadership of Shaukat Aziz, the country would make rapid progress.

"Till the appointment of Shaukat Aziz, he will try to discharge his duty according to his conscience", said Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.

Chaudhry Shujaat said for the first time, the change of government has been completed peacefully and without any dispute.

Former Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali Saturday stepped down from his office, dissolved his cabinet and nominated

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the president of ruling Pakistan Muslim League, as his interim successor.

Source: Xinhua