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Pakistan chooses moderate PM
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's parliament has rejected a pro-Taliban candidate and chosen a military-backed moderate as its civilian prime minister. After weeks of jockeying for positions following an October poll where no party won a clear majority, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali from the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) party was selected on Thursday. The announcement comes two days after pro-government candidates won the speaker of the house and deputy speaker of the house votes, as the country returns to civilian rule following a bloodless military coup in October 1999. Jamali will have the power to govern, even though Pakistan's military ruler President Pervez Musharraf, who came to power in that coup, retains the right to dismiss parliament. (Shaky return to democracy) Despite the sweeping changes in Pakistani law that give Musharraf broad powers, the leader on Wednesday promised the nation he would hand over the reigns to the new prime minister and not interfere. Paving the wayJamali's election paves the way for the formation of a coalition government that will bring together the pro-army faction of the PML, dissident members of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's party and independent members of parliament. Jamali, a former chief minister of southwestern Baluchistan province and Musharraf's preferred candidate, won 172 votes defeating the candidates from an Islamist alliance and Bhutto's liberal party. The pro-Taliban candidate, Fazlur Rahman, was a distant second in the race to become prime minister. Coalition talks between the PML and the six-party Islamic alliance broke down over differences regarding the powers Musharraf should wield over the civilian government. The PML says it supports Musharraf's constitutional amendments. Musharraf argues such powers are necessary in order to ensure Pakistan's return to democracy is as stable as possible. Musharraf's party only took 118 of the assembly's 342 seats in the October election, short of the 172 needed for a majority. But the party got a boost late last week when 10 members of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party bolted and joined the Muslim League. Opposition parties fear Jamali, who dissolved Baluchistan's assembly during one of his two stints as provincial chief minister, is unlikely to stand up to any military intervention. -- CNN Islamabad Bureau Chief Ash-har Quraishi contributed to this report.
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