Newly nominated Prime Minister, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussein, on Saturday said former Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz will be the next Prime Minister after being elected as member of the National Assembly.
"I shall continue as Prime Minister till Shaukat Aziz is elected member of the National Assembly because the Constitution does not provide for election of a Senator as Prime Minister," he said while addressing a press conference here.
National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi and a large number of Senate and National Assembly members were present on the occasion.
Chaudhry Shujaat said Shaukat Aziz is the most appropriate candidate for the premiership and hoped under the leadership of Shaukat Aziz, the country would make rapid progress.
Chaudhry Shujaat said that for the first time, the change of government has been completed peacefully and without any dispute.
Replying to a question, Chaudhry Shujaat said Shaukat Aziz could contest election from any province as the PML has its roots throughout the country.
The decision to this effect had been taken by the party through consensus.
The PML president said that Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali tendered his resignation with open heart and for the first time the transfer of power was completed without any dispute.
Replying to a question about 'interim' Prime Minister, Shujaat said there is no question of 'interim period' and my election as Prime Minister would be according to the Constitution.
Answering a question about reasons for the resignation of Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Shujaat said: "I do not want to go into details."
He said for the last many days, there was confusion in the party about the Prime Ministership, therefore, with this peaceful change of power the confusion has ended.
To another question, Chaudhry Shujaat said: "I am sure Shaukat Aziz would take along party workers and people and would prove his worth as Prime Minister."
Shaukat Aziz supplemented the answer and assured, he would take along all the elected members and allied parties to achieve the goals of development and welfare of masses.
He said Pakistan has the potential to achieve progress and prosperity like China, Malaysia and Thailand with effective economic policies and the budget for 2004-05 is a way forward to achieve the economic goals.
"We shall assure that Pakistan becomes a developed nation and the Muslim Ummah, too, feels proud of its development," Shaukat said.