ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: The National Assembly is set to elect new prime minister in its special session scheduled to be held at 10am on Thursday.

Three candidates — Mir Zafarullah Jamali (PML-Q), Makhdoom Shah Mehmud Qureshi (PPP) and Maulana Fazlur Rehman (MMA) — filed nomination papers for the top office.

The House consists of 336 MNAs and the successful candidate needs to secure 169 votes for a simple majority. The PML-Q claims that it has the support of over 180 members.

The new prime minister will be administered the oath by President Gen Pervez Musharraf and he will be required to take a vote of confidence from the House within 60 days of his election.

Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain conducted the scrutiny of the nomination papers in his chamber and declared them valid.

Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Shah Mahmud Qureshi were present at the time of scrutiny of papers, while Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri represented Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Chaudhry Amir Hussain said that any candidate could withdraw his candidature before the election process got underway.

Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri told Dawn that the MMA’s number of votes improved from 80 to 82 in deputy speaker’s elections on Tuesday and the alliance expected that a few more would be added in its favour on Thursday.

Political analysts attributed change in the PPP candidate to a last minute understanding reached either with the government through the PML-Q or the MMA.

A MMA source told Dawn on the condition of anonymity that the PPP had established contacts with government representatives and they were expected to withdraw their candidate under some deal.

Mir Zafarullah Jamali sounded confident when he told newsmen at the time of filing his papers that he enjoyed the support of over 180 members.

He said after electing to the top post, the first task before him would be to steer the country out of uncertainty. He said he would take along all political parties and all segments of the society in the march towards progress.

The name of Shah Mahmud Qureshi as PPP candidate for the post of prime minister was announced by Makhdoom Amin Fahim after presiding over a parliamentary party meeting. He said: “Shah Mahmud Qureshi’s name has been supported by the entire party and party chairperson Benazir Bhutto also endorsed the name.”

Talking to newsmen at the time of filing Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s papers, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal parliamentary leader, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, said: “Our talks with the ARD for cooperation within the assembly and outside are still in progress.”

He said people had reposed confidence in religio-political parties and the legislators should vote for the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal candidate.