ISLAMABAD, 23 March 2008 — The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) yesterday named Yousaf Raza Gilani, former Parliament speaker and aide to slain party leader Benazir Bhutto, as its candidate for Pakistan’s next prime minister.

“Gilani is not afraid to lead and he knows the way,” said PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar, reading a statement from Bhutto’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari.

“A session of the National Assembly has been called on Monday. Election of the leader of the house will take place through division of members and not by secret voting,” National Assembly Speaker Fahmida Mirza told Arab News.

After the confirmation vote in Parliament tomorrow, the prime minister is to be sworn in by President Pervez Musharraf.

The naming of a prime ministerial candidate was stalled for weeks, fueling speculation that Zardari wanted the job for himself. He now shares control of the party with Bilawal, his 19-year-old son.

Zardari cannot become premier because he did not run for a parliamentary seat in Feb. 18 elections. But he could contest a by-election and win a seat to qualify as early as this summer. In that case, Gilani would be a stand-in until Zardari could run.

Gilani, however, will likely face an opposition candidate from Pakistan Muslim League (Q) after a disagreement between the country’s two main pro-Musharraf parties about whether to field a candidate at all.

One of the parties, the Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), withdrew its candidate late Friday as a “goodwill gesture” to Bhutto’s followers.

But a day later, PML (Q) said it planned to field a candidate and would make an announcement today.

Party Chairman and President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said the withdrawal of MQM candidate Farooq Sattar did not reflect the will of all pro-Musharraf lawmakers. “We will contest the election. We have made this decision,” Hussain told reporters yesterday in Islamabad.

Fahim Snubbed

Gilani’s nomination was a clear snub to PPP Vice Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who was long presumed the front-runner after leading Bhutto’s party during her nearly eight years in exile.

“I have the best wishes for Gilani,” he said.

Fahim, however, said he would not quit the party.

Bhutto returned to Pakistan last year only to die in a suicide attack in December. Since then, Zardari has risen to become a key figure in Pakistan’s politics, and he may have considered Fahim a threat to his own political ambitions.

The battle for prime minister has strained party unity, even before it forms a coalition government that will face massive challenges including a wave of militancy, high inflation and electricity shortages.

The new administration would be led by PPP and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N).

— With input from agencies