Islamabad, June 28: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain is set to become the country’s 21st Prime Minister when the National Assembly meets tomorrow to elect the new leader of the House.

With the ruling coalition in a majority in the lower House, Hussain faces no threat from the main Opposition Alliance for Restoration for Democracy (ARD) rival Makhdoom Amin Fahim, a close ally of self-exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The ARD comprises of the Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz Sharif).

Hussein will replace Zafarullah Khan Jamali who resigned as Prime Minister on Saturday after 19 months in office. Jamali had nominated Hussein as his successor, a move that critics described as “inappropriate”.

“I am at a loss to understand how a Prime Minister who is going to resign has the authority to nominate the next Prime Minister,” Fahim said in Islamabad.

Analysts say Pakistan President Musharraf, who also heads the armed forces, was unhappy with Jamali’s inability to act as a unifying force within the PML, with his ineffectual handling of an increasingly assertive religious Opposition, and with his failure to support the President’s policies more firmly.

Hussein, 59, today filed his nomination papers at the National Assembly secretariat to seek vote of confidence tomorrow. He is expected to take oath as Prime Minister and announce the cabinet by Wednesday.

Finance minister Shaukat Aziz will be the senior minister in the new government and will eventually replace Hussein as Prime Minister, possibly by middle of August. Aziz has to win a National Assembly seat to become the Prime Minister.

Aziz is a political outsider, but has a proven track record as finance minister, turning round an economy on the brink of a financial abyss. Investors took heart from the news that he will be Prime Minister soon, although political analysts criticised Musharraf for orchestrating a change in Prime Ministers.

Aziz was first appointed finance minister in Musharraf’s cabinet following the October 1999 military coup that overthrew former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Aziz and Hussein met Musharraf in Islamabad today and discussed the formation of the new government. However, Fahim said he “smelled rats” behind Jamali’s sudden resignation. “Why he was forced to step down when he did not commit any wrong, “ he questioned. “The rulers are playing dirty with this country,” he added.