FROM A RINGSIDE SEAT

Shaukat Aziz's election as the prime minister was a foregone conclusion, but that it would rejuvenate the Opposition- to the pre-LFO protest level- was definitely not being contemplated in the inner sanctums of power. As soon as Shaukat entered the National Assembly on Friday afternoon and the treasury members greeted him by thumping desks, the Opposition members stood up in their seats and forcefully booed him, and then settled to "Go Musharraf Go" and other anti-government slogans.
The rumpus continued for good 15 minutes, until the Speaker ordered closure of the doors of the house for the election process to begin. The Opposition members boycotted the election and later addressed a press conference pledging to restart the anti-government agitation. Even minutes before all this happened there was hardly a confirmed report that the Opposition would be able to put up a united stand against the government.
A day before, National Assembly Speaker Amir Hussain had conceded the eligibility to Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, the Opposition's lone candidate, to contest the election. But next day, on Friday afternoon, he refused to issue the order to ensure that Hashmi is produced in the House. Whatever the legal explanations for the Speaker's refusal, the question is if he is a candidate then why can't he vote. What would have been the Speaker's stance if he was elected prime minister of Pakistan?
Shaukat Aziz obtained 191 votes, one more than what Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain got in June. He missed Farooq Sattar 's vote, as the MQM leader was not allowed to vote when arrived late and was not present in the premises when the voting process was on.
The entire process, which started late by an hour, concluded within 55 minutes. Speaker Amir Hussain declared Shaukat Aziz as the candidate who "commands the support of the majority of the members of the National Assembly", in parliamentary parlance called "ascertainment". On Saturday he would be given the oath of office by President Pervez Musharraf and would take vote of confidence from the National Assembly. The combined Opposition is expected to boycott that event also.
Shaukat Aziz's maiden speech in the National Assembly was refreshing but not revolutionary. He did not speak extempore. He read from a paper. In this prepared address, -- and, therefore, not in line with the parliamentary practice unless it is specifically declared by the Speaker that he would be making a policy statement, -he made the usual promises. But what must have surprised many, particularly the diplomats in the gallery, was the rather prolonged thumping by the government members when he said that he would persevere in keeping the country's nuclear programme at the core of national defence.
He declared President Musharraf an invaluable asset for Pakistan and promised to continue benefiting from his advice. He also profusely thanked Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain who "paved the way" for his ascension to the office of Prime Minister.
Shujaat was the next to speak. In a very short address and in his own way, the outgoing Prime Minister warned his successor against claiming monopoly of wisdom and patronising cronyism. "When Nawaz Sharif took over, I advised him to shun using 'maen' (I) everywhere and also to keep distance from flatters, but he did not heed".
Zafarullah Khan Jamali, tongue in cheek, declared that "continuity is the name of the game" and "none of us is indispensable". Sheikh Rashid heaped praise on the Shujaat family and offered compliments to Shaukat on his stance on Kashmir and nuclear issue. More such pieces of peppered advice are expected to greet the new Prime Minister on Saturday, when he would take the vote of confidence from the National Assembly.
The united stand taken by the Opposition against Shaukat Aziz on his day one does not augur well for smooth running of the Parliament. The tone and tenor of Opposition leaders, as conveyed in so many words at the press conference, unmistakably leads one to believe that tough times lay ahead for the new prime minister.
That might accentuate the possibility that being a non-political persona Shaukat Aziz may opt to work outside the ambit of Parliament. That would tend to widen the chasm of mistrust between the two sides, endangering the very existence of parliamentary life in Pakistan.