Pakistan
has entered an era of real democracy. It is hoped the incoming
government would maintain the pace of growth the nation has
enjoyed. On Saturday, the Pakistan People's Party--one of
two parties that won the majority of National Assembly seats
in the parliamentary elections held last month--named its
candidate for prime minister. The other party is the Pakistan
Muslim League-N. The candidate, Yousaf Raza Gilani, was parliament
speaker in the administration of former PPP leader Benazir
Bhutto, who was slain during a campaign rally last year. PPP
spokesman Farhatullah Babar claims that Gilani has been elected
unanimously. However, according to political Pundits, Gilani's
appointment might be an ad hoc arrangement and ultimately
Asif Ali Zardari, the bereaved husband of Ms Benazir Bhutto
would take over from him. The meeting of Pakistan's National
Assembly has been convened where the name of Gilani would
be ratified. Gilani has pipped to the post his strong rival
Shah Mehmood Qureshi and another opponent Makhdoom Amin Faheem
has been completely sidelined. It is said Fahim was the strongest
PM candidate of PPP earlier. The coalition said it would reinstate
ousted Supreme Court justices within 30 days of parliament's
first session. But it is unclear whether the opposition coalition
could actually get its measures through both Houses of parliament.
Despite opposition gains in parliamentary elections last month,
a coalition led by Musharraf's party still retains a considerable
number of seats in the Senate. The former justices are at
the heart of the political crisis that began last year. Musharraf
removed nearly all of the Supreme Court bench in November,
days before the justices were set to rule on the legitimacy
of his third term in office. He had been re-elected president
just a month earlier by a parliament that critics contend
was stacked with his supporters.
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