March 19, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 10, 1429

ISLAMABAD, March 18: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Zardari is reported to have selected the party’s candidate for the post of prime minister but he will make it public after the announcement of the election schedule.

Several senior PPP leaders told Dawn it would be wrong to say that the co-chairman was undecided about the candidate. They said the party was deliberately delaying the announcement for political reasons.

They said the candidate had been chosen but it was yet to be decided how to announce the decision.

The sources said Mr Zardari had selected a person for the post and only a few of his close associates were aware of it.

Meanwhile, after nomination of Dr Fehmida Mirza as the candidate for the post of speaker of the National Assembly, there is a perception that the party’s nominee for the prime minister’s post would be from Punjab.

Several PPP leaders were of the view that the main contenders were Makhdoom Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani and Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Multan.

Most of the party’s MNAs believe that Makhdoom Amin Fahim is out of the race, especially after his criticism of the decision-making process.

The sources said the chances of Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, the only leader besides Mr Fahim to present himself before the media as a strong candidate for the post, had also diminished.

When contacted, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the prime minister could be from any province. He termed all reports in the media in this regard mere speculation.

He said the party would announce the name of its candidate when the government convened the National Assembly session to elect the leader of the house.

However, some political analysts believe that the party may spring a surprise and someone other than the three of four people whose names are doing the rounds may become the prime minister.