Pakistan’s National Assembly to elect new Prime Minister on Friday

Pakistan’s National Assembly to elect new Prime Minister on Friday

The National Assembly of Pakistan has been summoned by the country’s President Asif Ali Zardari in order to elect the newly nominated candidate Makhdoom Shahabuddin to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan in place of the dismissed former Prime Minister,
Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Shahabuddin will file his nomination papers on Thursday. Another federal minister, Raja Pervez Ashraf, will be the alternative candidate.

The following statement was issued by Pakistan Television regarding the matter, “President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the co-chairman of Pakistan People’s Party, has nominated Makhdoom Shahabuddin as a candidate for the Prime Minister.”

The Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousuf Raza Gilani was asked by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to write to the Swiss probe in order to re start an investigation in which the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari was named for being involved in a money laundering
case along with his deceased wife Benazir Bhutto. However, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousuf Raza Gilani did not comply with the orders of the Supreme Court stating that the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari enjoyed complete immunity both within and
outside the country.

The case which the Supreme Court of Pakistan has been urging the government of the country ruled by the Pakistan People’s Party to re start came to a stop by the signing of the National Reconciliation Ordinance during the time that the President of the country
was Gen. (retd) Pervez Musharraf. However, the apex court of the country had deemed the NRO as illegal which in effect called for the re starting of the investigation. 

The new premier will immediately face court demands to write to the Swiss, so analysts say Zardari will only countenance a loyalist and someone from Punjab province who can complement his own power base in the south.

PPP supporters accuse the court, in collusion with the army and the opposition, of trying to bring down Zardari before February 2013, when the administration would become the first in Pakistan to complete a full five-year term.

"Democracy is evolving in Pakistan, and it’s stronger than ever before, despite being chaotic and messy," said Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, executive director of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=26491

Posted by Rabiya Maqbool on Jun 21 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry