Pakistan's Aziz files nomination

Aziz (left) should replace the 'stop-gap' PM Hussain (right)

Shaukat Aziz, widely expected to be Pakistan's next prime minister, has filed his nomination to contest a by-election to parliament.

A banker who is the country's finance minister, Mr Aziz must win a seat if he is to take up the premier's post.

Last month former prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali stepped down.

He was replaced by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the leader of the pro-military Pakistan Muslim League party who has said he will make way for Mr Aziz.

'President's choice'

Mr Aziz, 55, is seen as being backed by President Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 military coup.

On Tuesday he travelled to the town of Attock, west of the capital, Islamabad, where he filed his nomination papers.

I think he is imposed on us - we are never free Attock trader Abdullah

"We are starting a new era, with fair, free and transparent governance," he said.

Mr Aziz will take over as premier for the rest of Mr Hussain's term once he is elected to the National Assembly, ruling party officials have said.

Mr Hussain's niece is vacating her seat at Attock to enable Mr Aziz to run.

In case things do not go smoothly, he will also file nomination papers later this week for a seat in southern Sindh province. Both by-elections are on 18 August.

President Musharraf is said to back Mr Aziz because he wants the country's leadership to be in the hands of someone capable of turning around the economy.

Opposition

Mr Aziz, a former employee of Citibank in New York, is widely credited with turning around Pakistan's economy which was close to bankruptcy in 1999.

Reports say there was a rift between Jamali (left) and Musharraf

But the finance minister's candidacy is opposed by many who think he is too close to the United States.

The opposition Alliance for Restoration of Democracy failed to agree on a joint candidate on Tuesday.

So far there has been no official word on why Mr Jamali had to resign.

It was Mr Jamali who put forward Mr Hussain's name - an attempt, correspondents say, to try to dispel the impression of any internal party differences.

Repeated statements from the government denied any such differences.