The party of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on Saturday named its candidate for prime minister: Yousaf Raza Gilani. He's all but certain to be elected to the position by the National Assembly on Monday.
Gilani is a veteran member of the leadership of the Pakistan Peoples Party, a former speaker of parliament and was an aide to Bhutto. There's speculation that Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, will eventually seek to become prime minister but to be eligible he needs to first win a seat in a by-election in parliament. That could happen as early as this summer, so it's possible Gilani might not hold the post for very long.
For the past eight years, all power has resided in the hands of the president, U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf. It is uncertain how much power the prime minister will have in the coalition government, which is an alliance between two parties that oppose him.
Washington will be watching the new government very closely. Government leaders are talking about putting more emphasis on negotiating with militants, particularly the Taliban in the tribal areas.
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