Pakistan Swears In Prime Minister; Bhutto Walks Out
Nawaz Sharif was sworn in Tuesday as Pakistan’s prime minister after ousted Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto repeated charges of vote rigging and led a token opposition walkout from the National Assembly.
President Ghulam Ishaq Khan administered the oath of office to Sharif at the President’s Palace after he demonstrated his majority in the 217-seat National Assembly by getting 153 votes. Bhutto’s candidate, Mohammed Afzel Khan, got 39 votes.
Bhutto and her party deputies also boycotted the oath-taking ceremony.
“My election amounts to the confidence of the people in my person,” Sharif told the Assembly. “I wish to assure the people of Pakistan that I will do my utmost to come up to your expectations.”
Before the vote, Bhutto led her Pakistan People’s Party deputies from the chamber when their demands for a secret ballot were rejected. She later returned.
The election of Sharif, the 40-year-old head of the Islamic Democratic Alliance (IDA) and former chief minister of Punjab province, ended three months of political uncertainty after Bhutto’s dismissal in August. Bhutto has charged that her loss at the polls Oct. 24 was the result of massive rigging.
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