New Delhi: Former National Assembly Speaker and PPP Vice-Chairman Yousuf Raza Gillani is tipped to become the new prime minister of Pakistan, party sources told CNN-IBN on Wednesday.
According to the sources, the PPP is likely to name him the prime minister later on Wednesday evening and an announcement in this regard is likely to be made by none other than PPP Chairman Bilawal Zardari Bhutto.
Bilawal is reported to have landed in Karachi and he will be traveling to Islamabad to make the announcement.
A former federal minister, Gillani has been one of the front-runners for the post from Punjab, though he was not as high-profile as other contenders like Makhdoom Amin Fahim or Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar.
Gillani is a senior politician in Pakistan and a well-known figure from Punjab. Gillani is believed to be very close to the Bhutto family. In 1988, Gillani had defeated Nawaz Sharif in the National Assembly election from Multan.
Sources said Gillani emerged the PPP choice as someone acceptable to majority of Pakistanis. Apart from Punjab, Gillani is also said to be acceptable to the Sindhi population. He is also believed to be acceptable to the PML-N camp.
In all likelihood, Gillani is going to be only an interim arrangement as Asia Ali Zardari himself has of late been showing interest in becoming the Prime Minister.
Zardari can't be the PM as of now as he first needs to get elected to the National Assembly. He has already announced his intentions to fight elections for the National Assembly from Benazir Bhutto's constituency Larkana.
The National Assembly, meanwhile, elected the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House on Wednesday. PPP's Fehmida Mirza became Pakistan's first woman Speaker of the National Assembly by winning the election against King's Party candidate Muhammad Israr Tarin.
Comments
0 comment