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Bhutto party announces PM candidate
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Global
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By Agencies
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![Gilani is all but guaranteed to win the vote with the support of his party and its coalition allies [AFP]](http://mwcnews.net/images/stories/Pakistan/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/Gilani.jpg "Gilani is all but guaranteed to win the vote with the support of his party and its coalition allies [AFP]") | | Gilani is all but guaranteed to win the vote with the support of his party and its coalition allies [AFP] |
The party of Benazir Bhutto, the assassinated Pakistani opposition leader, has nominated a former National Assembly speaker as its candidate for prime minister.
Yousuf Raza Gilani, a vice chairman of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), has been put forward as a "consensus" candidate, a party spokesman said on Saturday.
Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, has asked the National Assembly to reconvene on Monday to elect the prime minister.
Gilani is all but guaranteed to win the vote with the support of his party, which won the most seats in a February 18 parliamentary election, and its coalition allies.
Earlier Musharraf's party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), withdrew its candidate for prime minster, calling the move a "good will gesture" and paving the way for a PPP candidate to stand unopposed.
Coalition leader There had been speculation the PPP would nominate a stop-gap prime minister until Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's husband and the party leader becomes eligible to stand for the post by contesting a by-election in May.
Zardari is currently ineligible to stand as he is not a member of parliament.
Gilani was the "consensus" candidate of the coalition, a statement said, read out to reporters in Islamabad by Farhatullah Babar, the PPP spokesman.
"I have great pleasure in calling upon Yousuf Raza Gilani in the name of the martyr Benazir Bhutto to accept the heavy responsibility to lead the coalition government and the nation," Zardari said in the statement.
Analysts said the Gilani's appointment, a low-key Bhutto loyalist, was likely to add to speculation Zardari would seek to become prime minister.
"It's not a nomination you'd expect for a five-year term," said Masooda Bano, a political analyst.
"He's proved his loyalty but even in the public mind he doesn't have that strong a presence."
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Tags: Yousuf Raza Gilani Bhutto party
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