Fauzia Akmal, wife of detained Pakistani doctor Akmal Waheed, weeps outside a court in Karachi. (Reuters)

Islamabad, July 3: Pakistan finance minister Shaukat Aziz will contest from two constituencies in southern Sindh and central Punjab provinces for a National Assembly byelection in order to become the country’s next Prime Minister.

Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) secretary general Mushahid Hussein said in Islamabad that Aziz would file his nomination papers on July 6 and July 7 to contest the byelection, scheduled to be held on August 18.”

Ruling party legislators Arbab Zakaullah and Eman Waseem had resigned from their National Assembly seats earlier this week in favour of Shaukat Aziz.

Nominated by caretaker Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussein last week, Aziz, a career banker, would succeed him by end of August after becoming a member of the National Assembly.

Hussein became the 21st Pakistani Prime Minister after the sudden resignation by Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali after 20 months in office.

Shaukat Aziz enjoys a close rapport with leading financial institutions including the IMF and World Bank and is admired in the Europe and US as a “dynamic person and a seasoned economist”.

Speaking during an interview to the state-run PTV, Shaukat Aziz called Manmohan Singh “a good fellow and a humble person”under whose leadership the bilateral dialogue to resolve all issues including Kashmir will move forward.

The six-party Opposition Islamic alliance, the Mutahidda Majlis-e-Ammal (MMA), today said they were discussing with the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) about the possibility of fielding joint candidates to contest the byelection.

“I am confident that the ARD will agree to fielding joint candidates,” MMA secretary general and leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazal-ur Rehman said in Peshawar today.

However, the ARD, which consists of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim league (Nawaz), will consider the MMA offer in a meeting in Islamabad on Monday.

PML (N) secretary information Siddique-ul-Farooque said electoral cooperation with the MMA for the byelection was possible, adding that “we would like all political forces in and outside parliament to field joint candidates in order to give a tough fight to the President Pervez Musharraf-backed candidate.”

Doctors in custody

A Pakistan court today remanded to police custody two doctors accused of having links with al- Qaida and a local terror group involved in last month’s attack on a military convoy which killed 11 people, officials said.

Dr Akmal Waheed, a heart specialist, and his brother Dr Arshad Waheed, an orthopaedic surgeon, were arrested yesterday in Karachi.

“They were produced before an anti-terrorism court and the court has remanded them in police custody until July 15 for interrogation,” chief police investigator Fayyaz Leghari said.

He said the doctors were suspected of giving medical treatment to al Qaida militants, including foreigners.