Coalition partners entrust Zardari to nominate next PM

The Express Tribune

All coalition partners of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) met under the chairmanship of President Asif Ali Zardari and handed him the mandate to decide on a candidate for election as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan, Express News reported. The emergency meeting was called after the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani ineligible to hold office. Gilani will not be a member of parliament following the verdict, and his name was also removed from the Press Information Department website. “The Election Commission shall issue a notice of disqualification and the president is required to take necessary steps to ensure continuation of democratic process,” said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The election commission subsequently issued a notification declaring Gilani’s membership of the National Assembly as null and void. The coalition partners said that since the previous Prime Minister belonged to the PPP, the next one too should be from the PPP. Disqualified Prime Minsiter Gilani too attended the meeting. Earlier, Express News reported that Senior PPP leader Ahmed Mukhtar said that he heard the party may be nominate him for the post of prime minister. “I’m not sure about the party’s decision but if the party considers me for the position of prime minister, I would duly serve the country,” he said.