After three years of military rule, executive power returned to civilian hands in Pakistan today with the swearing-in of Mr Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali as prime minister and his 21-member cabinet.
President Pervez Musharraf, who administered the oaths, stole power in a bloodless coup in October 1999 but was shortly afterwards ordered by the Supreme Court to return executive power to the people within three years.
Since then, Musharraf has followed a much-vaunted "roadmap to democracy", under which elections were held on October 10th, the constitution reinstated - albeit with 29 amendments unilaterally introduced by the president - and now a civilian prime minister installed.
Mr Jamali, from the military-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, was elected as prime minister Thursday by a razor-thin margin from the hung national assembly.
Six of the 10 dissenters from the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) - whose votes were crucial to his securing of the premiership - were rewarded with cabinet positions.
The leading dissenters, Mr Rao Sikandar Iqbal, Mr Faisal Saleh Hayat and Mr Chaudhry Naurez Shakoor, took three of the 14 federal minister slots, while three others were named ministers of state.
Mr Iqbal was handed the key defence portfolio, Mr Hayat scored interior and narcotics control, while Shakoor is to oversee petroleum and natural resources.
Critics say Mr Musharraf's transfer of power to Mr Jamali, who is widely seen as the kind of pliant politician the president was seeking as prime minister, is only partial.
AFP