Raja Pervez Ashraf

Islamabad, June 22: A central leader of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Raja Pervez Ashraf was on Friday sworn in as the country’s new Prime Minister days after the Supreme Court dismissed his predecessor Yousuf Raza Gilani for contempt.

President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath of office to Ashraf, who served as minister for information technology in Gilani's government.

The President also administered oath to 27 federal ministers and 11 deputy ministers, majority of whom were also members of Gilani's cabinet.

Analysts say that the parliament averted a big political crisis for the time being by electing a new leader of the lower house who got 211 against 89 secured by his rival Sardar Mehtab Abbasi of Pakistan Muslim League in the house of 342.

The pro-Taliban Jamiatul Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fqazalur Rehman, who was also running for the premiership withdrew his candidature in the last moments apparently because of some sort of understanding that he arrived at with a government team headed by Syed Khurshid Shah.

At least 39 members including those from JUI abstained from the voting. Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Fehmida Mirza announced the result after the election which was conducted through division.

“Raja Pervez Ashraf secured 211 votes while Mehtab Abbasi had 89 votes polled in his favour and therefore Raja Pervez Ashraf is declared to have been elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan,” she said amid thumping of desks by members from the ruling party.

Speaking at the floor of the house, Ashraf invited the opposition for a dialogue on find out solution to critical internal and external issues facing the country.

“I invite the opposition for a dialogue and appeal to them to join hands with us in resolving critical issues confronting the nation,” he said against the backdrop of repeated calls by PML(N) chief and two-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for early elections in the country.

Sharif says that the government has miserably failed to resolve serious issues like electricity loadshedding mainly because of poor governance and bad marcro economic policies putting Pakistan under huge burder of foreign loans amounting to trillions of dollars.

Thousands of people have been staging violent protests across Pakistan over electricity loadshedding, which spreads over 20 hours in rural and 14 to 18 hours in the urban areas and even major Pakistani cities such as Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Karachi.

The PPP, whose actual strength in the lower house is 124 has the support of its coalition partners including Pakistan Muslim League (Q), Mutahida Qaumi Movement and other small parties. The total strength of the PPP and its allies is 235 as against strength of 103 members that the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (N) and its partners have in the house.

Ashraf's nomination was announced on Friday morning after the actual PPP nominee Makhdoom Shahabuddin withdrew from the race following issuance of non-bailable arrest warrants against him by an anti-narcotics court in connection with the alleged import of an illegal drug epherdrine in 2010 while Shahabuddin was health minister.

An insider told The Telegraph that President Asif Ali Zardari, who held crisis talks with top leaders of the coalition partners and the party during the last three days to pick up a nominee of consesus, did not want to give opposition parties a chance to challenge Shahabuddin's election in the superior courts.

Zardari informed his coalition partners and members of the ruling party about the new nomination in a series of meetings that he held on Thursday.

Analysts believe that issuance of warrants against Shahabuddin by Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) headed by an army general was a significant development as it showed that the military was not favouring him and that they want to send this government packing without practically interferring in the politics.

“It is to be seen who is behind this motive - the judiciary or the military as the lower courts never dare moving against any person being elevated to a top political position,” analyst Hasan Askari said.

Observers say that the premiership will not prove to be a bed of roses for Ashraf as he will face fres demands from the Supreme Court to write letters to Swiss authorities for re-opening corruption against against President Zardari. They believe that Zardari will take all the major decisions instead of Ashraf, who is not considered to be a very strong person.

The apex court had disqualified Gilani on Monday for the contempt, plunging the country into a new political crisis and depriving him of a unique honour of being the 'longest serving Prime Minister' in Pakistan's checkered political history replete with the military interventions over half of its existence since 1947.

Gilani, who became Prime Minister after his PPP came to power in March 2008, was convicted of contempt of court in April over his refusal to order re-opening of corruption cases against Zardari . The Monday's order disqualifies Gilani to be holder of any public office for at least next five years.

The Supreme Court had ordered re-opening of all cases of corruption under December 2009 judgment that scrapped the infamous National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), which also benefitted among others several influential politicians including Zardari's close confidante and sitting interior minister Rehman Malik and Mutahida Qaumi Movement Chief Altaf Hussain, who has been living in a self exile in London for the last 19 years.

The ordinance had been promulgated by former President Pervez Musharraf in 2007 as part of a power sharing deal with opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a gun and suicide attack the same year, paving way for his spouse to become the head of state following February 2008 parliamentary elections.

Bhutto and Zardari allegedly used Swiss bank accounts to launder about $12 million in bribes paid by different companies seeking contracts for customs inspection in Pakistan in the 1990s

Pervez election took place months ahead of , which are otherwise due by end of 2012 or early 2013 in the country that has been facing tremendous pressure from United States and other allies in the ongoing war against terrorism especially after it shut NATO supply routes for international troops operating in Afghanistan after a US strike on two Pakistani military posts killed at least 24 soldiers in a tribal region in November last year.

Pakistan has been in the eye of the storm since May last year when US Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden during an operation in Abbottabad, with even greater pressure coming on the government to do more in eliminating insurgents especially those linked to Afghan Taliban allied Haqqani network, who allegedly operate from Pakistani soil against American troops in Afghanistan.