Pak's new PM gets guard of honour

Islamabad: Pakistan’s newly-elected Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Asharaf was presented a guard of honour by the armed forces during a formal ceremony held at the Prime Minister’s House on Saturday to welcome him. A contingent of the armed forces presented the guard of honour to Ashraf this morning when he arrived at the Premier’s official residence located within the high-security Red Zone in the heart of Islamabad. Later, he was introduced to the staff of the Prime Minister’s House. [caption id=“attachment_355002” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Raja Pervaiz Asharaf. PTI”]  [/caption] Ashraf was elected the new premier during a special session of the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament yesterday. He was subsequently sworn-in by President Asif Ali Zardari. The President also administered the oath of office to 27 federal ministers and 11 ministers of state. The PPP nominated Ashraf, 61, as its prime ministerial candidate after former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani was disqualified by the Supreme Court on Tuesday due to his conviction of contempt. Gilani was convicted and given a symbolic sentence of less than a minute by the apex court in April after he refused to reopen graft cases in Switzerland against Zardari. PTI