Pakistan's Premier Jamali Resigns

27/06/2004| IslamWeb

Pakistan Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali has resigned from his office, Information Minister Shaikh Rashid has said. "Yes, he has resigned," the minister said on Saturday, confirming reports from party sources. President of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, Chaudhry Shujaat Husain was nominated to succeed Jamali as prime minister. Husain is all but certain to win the necessary vote of confidence in Parliament, where the ruling party enjoys a commanding majority. A vote was expected within days. "It's an in-house change and it will have no effect on the Pakistan-India talks," Rashid later told reporters. Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani from Jamali's coalition partner earlier said that Pakistan's military ruler President Pervez Musharraf had accepted the premier's resignation following a meeting between the two. **Speculation*** Jamali's resignation after a 19-month tenure follows months of speculation on the premier's uneasy relationship with Musharraf. Jamali was elected prime minister in November 2002 in the first polls after three years of military rule by Musharraf, who seized power by toppling the elected government of then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif on 12 October, 1999. But throughout his tenure Jamali remained overshadowed by Musharraf. Durrani said Saturday's resignation, which came a day after Jamali emphatically denied he was planning to stand down, was not a result of any confrontation or tension with the president, despite their uneasy relationship. "Maybe President Musharraf wants to give a new pace (to government) and bring a new team," he said. **Failed to support the president*** But analysts say Jamali, 60, had failed Musharraf in mustering the support demanded by the president to ensure he keeps the role of army chief, as well as president. "He was perhaps not active enough and failed to deliver political support to Musharraf to remain in uniform," political analyst Muhammad Afzal Niazi said. "I see no other reason for Jamali's resignation." General Musharraf, who holds the dual posts of president and army chief, has promised in a constitutionally-enshrined pledge to shed his uniform by the end of 2004 and become a civilian president. But doubts have risen in recent months as to whether he will surrender his military role. Speculation on Jamali's future spooked Pakistan's financial markets on Friday, with stocks dropping 1% on rumours of his imminent departure. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Jamali has had an uneasy relationship with the president. (Al-Jazeera)