Pakistan's new prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, a technocrat and trusted ally of military leader President Pervez Musharraf, has been sworn in.
A former Citibank executive who has led the turnaround of the economy from the verge of bankruptcy over the past five years, Aziz was elected to the post yesterday in the National Assembly, a formality given its pro-military majority.
Musharraf, dressed in a suit rather than military uniform, stood alongside Aziz todayat the President's House as the two men read the swearing-in oath.
Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Musharraf said the "smooth transfer of power" would augur well for democracy. Pakistan has been ruled by the military for more than half of its 57-year history since independence.
"The political culture is gradually maturing in Pakistan," he said.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the information minister in the former cabinet, said Aziz would announce his cabinet on Tuesday or Wednesday. Aziz is expected to keep the finance portfolio.
He is also expected to retain key ministers, including Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, who has represented Pakistan in recent peace talks with nuclear-armed neighbour India, officials said.
Officials and analysts said there would be no changes in Pakistan's support for the U.S.-led war on terror, as Musharraf, who wields ultimate power as president, would continue to lead the fight against Islamic militancy and direct foreign policy.
In his acceptance speech on Friday, Aziz vowed to continue to deal strictly with terrorism and corruption and also to take forward the peace process with India "with an open mind".
Aziz secured 191 votes in the 342-seat house. Opposition groups boycotted the vote after the speaker refused to allow their candidate, Javed Hashmi, who is serving a life term in jail for defaming the military, to attend the vote.
Musharraf made Aziz his finance minister after seizing power in a bloodless military coup in 1999 and then in June this year hand-picked him to become head of government after the abrupt resignation of prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who had a falling out with the president.
Aziz needed to win a seat in parliament's lower house National Assembly to make him eligible for the post, so Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had taken over as interim prime minister.