ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s leading political party announced its pick for prime minister Saturday, setting the stage for a final transfer of political power to end nearly nine years of military rule under the government of President Pervez Musharraf.
The Pakistan People’s Party tapped Yousuf Raza Gillani, an ardent party loyalist and close associate of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, as its nominee. Gillani, 53, who served under Bhutto for three years in the 1990s as speaker of the country’s National Assembly, will face off in a largely symbolic vote Monday against a still unnominated member of Musharraf’s Pakistan Muslim League-Q for the country’s top governmental post.
A brief statement by Bhutto’s widower and party co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari, said the party had “reached consensus” on Gillani’s nomination and expressed confidence in his ability to head Pakistan’s government.
“Gillani is not afraid to lead, and he knows the way,” Zardari said.
The much anticipated announcement comes a little more than a month after the Pakistan People’s Party won the largest number of seats in national parliamentary elections. The decision to support Gillani for the post was the result of weeks of internal political wrangling in the party that effectively ended a bid by the party’s president, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, for the prime minister’s seat.
Gillani will need a two-thirds majority vote Monday to be confirmed as prime minister by the 342-seat National Assembly.
Pakistani political observers are predicting, however, that Gillani’s term as prime minister will be short-lived. Zardari, 51, could replace him if he wins a seat in a parliamentary by-election this summer.
