SHAUKAT AZIZ, a former investment banker and a close ally of President Musharraf, was confirmed as Prime Minister of Pakistan yesterday in a move that is expected to strengthen the military’s influence in the country’s politics.
He was elected by the National Assembly in a vote boycotted by opposition MPs in protest at the removal of their candidate.
Mr Aziz, 55, a former Finance Minister, is expected to keep the finance portfolio and to retain key ministers, including Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, the Foreign Minister, who has represented Pakistan in recent peace talks with India. Mr Aziz’s rise to has been meteoric, but controversial. He is widely credited with rescuing the economy from near-bankruptcy, but his pro-American stance and closeness to the military has angered the religious parties.
He joined Citibank, the American group, in 1962 after leaving business school in Karachi and spent 32 years outside Pakistan, rising through the ranks to become head of global banking.