ISLAMABAD, 6 January — Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is considering appointing an interim prime minister to head a set-up likely to be created by the end of this month, news reports said here yesterday.
The interim government will be tasked with overseeing the transition to democracy by October this year as mandated by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, English daily The News reported.
It said several names for the interim premier are under consideration but Sindh Governor Mian Soomro is most likely to be the top choice of the military government although current Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz is also a strong contender. Professionally a banker, having studied in the US and a multiprovincial personality, Soomro is being considered as the best placed in a list of probables for the slot on account of being non-controversial both for the local religious community and the West.
Soomro has been the top choice ever since Gen. Musharraf decided to become president. The News said that the military high-ups had conceived the plan to induct Army Chief Gen. Musharraf as the president, consequently to be assisted by a civilian prime minister, without resorting to elections for allowing the political parties to join the fray for political power.
The implementation of this plan to induct an interim government were put off because of Sept 11 events, the ensuing trouble in the region and the build-up to a war-like situation from the Indian side.
Such a set-up would be given the task of holding and supervising general elections, apart from implementing whatever settlement for peace is reached between India and Pakistan. According to the sources, President Musharraf is likely to indicate in some way the plan of inducting an interim set-up under his supervision in his address to the nation on his return from Katmandu, where he is currently trying to meet Indian leaders to discuss the ongoing situation.
Once inducted, the interim prime minister would be asked to choose his Cabinet with a couple of federal ministers retaining their current portfolios, the sources added.
