Pakistan's first Islamist chief minister has vowed to enforce laws banning music on public buses and called for buses to stop whenever there is a call for prayer.

Implementation of Islamic laws will be our first priority

Akram Khan Durrani

Akram Khan Durrani of the pro-Taleban Jamiat Ulema Islam Party was elected as the new chief minister of the North-West Frontier Province neighbouring Afghanistan by the provincial assembly on Friday.

In his first speech as chief minister, he also said all gambling dens and liquor stores would be shut down in the province.

But unlike the earlier rhetoric of the leaders of Islamic parties, Mr Durrani neither talked about the enforcement of strict Islamic punishments nor about the closing down of American bases in the country.

This is the first time since Pakistan's creation more than 50 years ago that the religious parties have seized absolute control in one of the four provinces.

New social agenda

The new chief minister, Akram Durrani, is apparently the moderate face of the religious alliance the MMA.

But behind him is a leadership which openly opposes the US-led war against terrorism in Afghanistan and the involvement of the American forces in the anti al-Qaeda operation within the country.

Signs of a likely change in Pakistan's political culture were evident from the process of the election of the religious party's nominee as the provincial chief minister of the North-West Frontier.

As the House's Speaker made the announcement, there were spontaneous outbursts of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) inside the assembly hall.

The message, according to the BBC's Zaffar Abbas, was quite clear: the Islamists have come to rule and the people will have to adjust to the new political and social order.

Limitations

Although the provincial government may not have the full authority to stop security operations in the tribal region that borders Afghanistan, MMA leaders say they plan to oppose all such moves.

Success reflected anger at the Afghan war

But our correspondent says that the MMA is conscious of its limited mandate and anxious not to enter into a confrontation with the pro-West central government - especially on sensitive issues like Pakistan's support for the US-led war against terrorism.

Besides, the religious parties also want to introduce social and economic reforms in the province to evolve a new Islamic culture.

The coming days will prove a major test of the skills of the country's religious parties and their ability to govern without offending many people at home and abroad.

The alliance of Islamic parties also did well in Balochistan, the other province neighbouring Afghanistan, but they did not achieve a majority in the provincial assembly there.

They also made big gains in the rest of the country to emerge as a major political force in the national assembly.