Posted on 05/19/2004 1:39:04 PM PDT by ambrose
India's Reform Architect Singh Wins PM Post
Wed May 19, 2004 02:17 PM ET
By Sanjeev Miglani and Terry Friel NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's free-market reform architect Manmohan Singh was chosen as prime minister on Wednesday, ending days of political chaos that paralyzed the nation and panicked financial markets.
The 71-year-old economist and former finance minister pledged to press ahead with reforms to usher in "the Indian century," but said they would be tempered to ensure the creation of jobs and to lift millions out of abject poverty.
Accompanied by Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born Congress party leader who stepped aside to give him the premiership, Singh met President Abdul Kalam to claim power for Congress and its allies after a dramatic day of lobbying.
"We have always said that economic reforms, with emphasis on the human element, will continue," Singh, India's first Sikh prime minister who was wearing a blue turban, told reporters.
"We will give to the world and to our people a model of economic reforms which add to the processes of development, which create new opportunities for the poor and downtrodden."
Singh has yet to decide when he and his leftist-backed coalition will be sworn in, but he is expected to take power by Sunday at the latest.
GANDHI PRESSURED
The day began with Congress leaders pressing Gandhi to reverse her decision to give up her claim to the premiership after the party's shock general election win last week.
When that failed, they scrambled to secure unanimous support for Singh.
The 57-year-old widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, assassinated by a suicide bomber 13 years ago Friday, dropped out after the Hindu nationalists she ousted last week stepped up bitter personal attacks over her Italian birth.
Her decision triggered anguish among grass roots supporters, ecstatic at the party's unexpected win just a few days ago, and intense political pressure to reconsider.
But a day after a tearful and visibly strained Gandhi told emotional Congress parliamentarians she could not be prime minister, she was relaxed and beaming as she spoke outside the presidential palace.
"I have been under tremendous pressure from my colleagues, my party workers and many, many people throughout the country. But now that everything is over, I am very happy," she said.
"I think our country will be safe in doctor Manmohan Singh's hands. It is a happy moment."
Gandhi, heir to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that led India to independence and has dominated for decades since, retains the influential party leadership under a special compromise.
MARKETS WELCOME SINGH
After weeks of wild see-sawing, India's markets firmed on Wednesday as it became increasingly clear Singh, seen as able to keep his communist allies under control, would take over Asia's third-largest economy and one of the world's fastest growing.
The Bombay exchange's benchmark index climbed past the psychologically important 5,000 point level to close 2.65 percent up just two days after massive losses sparked by anti-reform comments by the leftists.
Singh commands respect for his intellect and for his integrity in a chaotic political scene where corruption is rife.
But his skills as a leader and deal-maker are untested and he will have to manage Congress leaders -- accustomed only to the leadership of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty -- and disparate allies with competing demands.
"The father of India's reform program rising to the prime ministership would be very positive from the standpoint of the market," said P. K. Basu, head of Robust Economic Analysis.
"But I would caution against excessive euphoria since Dr Singh as an economic reformer is well regarded, but his abilities as a political manager are untested."
It is unclear how his leadership will affect the tentative peace process with neighboring Pakistan begun by outgoing Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, of the Bharatiya Janata Party. But Congress says it is committed to the process.
Congress received a boost Wednesday when a regional group from the south decided to join its coalition instead of simply supporting it from outside.
Gandhi's foreign background had made some allies uneasy despite tens of millions of voters rejecting it as an issue.
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