Pakistani Parliament Elects New Prime Minister - East Idaho News
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Pakistani Parliament Elects New Prime Minister

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GETTY W 050411 PakistaniFlag?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1370490005866George Doyle/Thinkstock(ISLAMABAD) — Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has been elected Prime Minister of Pakistan for the third time by Pakistan’s new parliament on Wednesday. His party won the majority seats in last month’s general elections. It’s a moment of historic democratic transition in Pakistan’s chequered democratic history which is marred by successive military coups.  

Sharif was jailed and subsequently exiled after his last government was overthrown in a military coup in 1999. He finally returned home just before the 2008 elections and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Sharif took the oath of office Wednesday from his political rival, President Zardari. Next, he will form a new cabinet which inherits a country plagued with terrorism, a weak economy with dwindling foreign exchange reserve, endemic corruption and hours of daily power cuts.
 
The newly-elected prime minister, a conservative politician, has already laid out his priorities: he wants to revive the crippling economy of the country, resolve power issues and talk to the Taliban to bring peace to the terrorism-stricken country.
 
A businessman, Sharif is well acquainted with challenges and solutions of economic issues, but tackling terrorism is a subject new to him. He has expressed the desire to hold negotiations with the Taliban and has already set the ball rolling by talking to religious leaders about negotiating with Taliban on the government’s behalf. The Taliban initially reciprocated his gesture, but after a drone strike May 29 that killed a top Taliban leader, Wali ur Rehman, they withdrew from the prospects of negotiations, at least for the time being.
 
The issue of drone strikes in Pakistan is a controversial one. Like many other politicians, Sharif has publicly opposed and condemned the use of drones on Pakistani territory, whereas President Obama in his speech on counter terrorism strategy at the National Defense University said that drones are crucial to U.S. counter-terrorism efforts. This will be a major foreign policy challenge for Sharif’s government as there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. He, however, claims to want a good working relationship with the U.S.
 
Sharif’s relationship with the Pakistan’s defense and justice departments will also be of interest. In the past, he has had tricky relationships with both institutions while he was in power. In 1997, during another term as prime minister, his supporters physically attacked the supreme court following a contempt case hearing against him. In later years, however, Sharif supported the movement for the reinstatement of the chief justice after he was deposed by then-President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
 
Sharif also holds a grudge against the military for overthrowing his last government and sending him into exile, though he says that’s now all behind him — a claim that time will prove.
 
He has wasted no time after his election victory in expressing desire for better economic and diplomatic ties with bitter rival India. Indian leaders reciprocated and called to congratulate him on election victory. He has since then been advised by the establishment to go slow on the Indian front, according to some insiders. India and Afghanistan are the military domain in Pakistan’s foreign policy.
 
For the moment, it’s a honeymoon period for everyone. Time will be the real test of Sharif’s statesmanship skills.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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