Islamabad: Overcoming their differences, Pakistan's Opposition parties today (Aug 26, 2004) announced fielding jailed PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz) leader Javed Hashmi against ruling party candidate Shaukat Aziz in a National Assembly vote for the post of Prime Minister.

Aziz also filed his nomination today to contest for the post of the leader of the National Assembly tomorrow (Aug 27, 2004). He was accompanied by caretaker Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain and the ruling PML-Q (Pakistan Muslim League-Qaed-i-Azam) leaders as well as its partners when he filed the nomination at the National Assembly.

The election, which is only a formality, will be held tomorrow and technocrat Aziz, former Finance Minister, is to be sworn in as Prime Minister on Saturday (Aug 28, 2004).

As per the procedure under the constitution, the person aspiring to be the Prime Minister has to be elected as the leader of the 342-member National Assembly.

The combined Opposition parties, in a sudden move, gave up their differences and fielded Hashmi of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), who is a loyalist of exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif.

Spokesman for former premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Senator Faratullah Babar, said Hashmi, also president of Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), has been nominated as the Opposition's candidate against Aziz. Both PPP and PML-N are the dominant partners of the ARD.

Earlier, PPP wanted to field its senior leader Amin Fahim, but reversed its decision following pressure from PML-N.