By DPA
Islamabad : Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Thursday named the chairman of the upper house of parliament, Mohammedmian Soomro, as the interim prime minister who will steer the country to elections of new assemblies in January.
Soomro, 67, will take up the post after the current parliament is dissolved at 11.59 pm (1859 GMT), having completed its five-year term.
An internationally recognized banker, Pakistan’s new cabinet chief has held top posts in financial institutions at home and abroad.
He now faces the challenge of overseeing the election process amid escalating conflicts between Musharraf and opposition forces demanding the military leader’s resignation following his introduction of emergency rule on Nov 3.
Soomro and 15 members of the new cabinet will be sworn in Friday morning.
Speaking on state television earlier Thursday, Musharraf said he had no regrets about his decision to impose the emergency and said he wanted to see democracy in Pakistan.
“The most crucial issue at this moment in time is Pakistan – Pakistan’s stability and Pakistan’s democratic transition,” said the US-allied army general, who seized power in a 1999 military coup.
“This is very important, and we must do everything to ensure this transition takes place,” he added on a day marked by fresh protests by political activists, lawyers and students in a number of towns and cities.
Some opposition parties have already announced their intention to boycott the elections, which Musharraf has said may have to be held in continuing emergency conditions.
Measures he imposed included the suspension of articles of the constitution, dismissal of the judges of the Supreme Court and appointment of a new bench, a partial media blackout and arrests of thousands of members of the opposition, lawyers and rights advocates.
Declared ostensibly as a means of countering Islamic militancy in the nuclear-armed country of 160 million people, the emergency was viewed by critics as a way of preventing the court’s former line-up from annulling Musharraf’s Oct 6 re-election victory.