ISLAMABAD Though the PPP has clearly indicated that it would like its co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to become Pakistans next president, its main coalition partner - the PML-N - has ideas of its own, AP reported.

With the Presidential election by lawmakers now set for September 6, the pressure is on for the two sides to come to some sort of agreement.

Zardari is fast emerging as the favorite. He won party support by openly standing up to Musharraf for his long, authoritarian rule but would likely continue the former generals support for the US war against extremist groups.

However, according to AP, Zardaris ascent might dismay some Pakistanis, who view him as a symbol of the sleaze that tainted the countrys last experiment with civilian rule in the 1990s. He won the nickname "Mr. 10 Percent" for alleged corruption during his wifes turns as prime minister.

According to Newsweek, Zardari is still under investigation by Swiss courts for alleged money-laundering offences during Bhuttos tenure as Prime Minister - an issue which was raised by PML-N faithful Ayaz Amir in the National Assembly on Friday.

With the governing coalition that drove Musharraf to resign this week now teetering on the verge of collapse, Zardaris nomination is not certain. He is engaged in intense political horse-trading with the leader of the PML-N, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a bitter political rival of Bhutto.

The PML-N has argued that the next president should hail from one of Pakistans two smallest provinces - Baluchistan or the North West Frontier - and that the person should not be linked to either of the main parties in the ruling coalition.

"The new president should be from one of the smaller provinces," said Sharifs spokesman Sadiqul Farooq, which would exclude Zardari, who comes from the southern province of Sindh.

"It should be a neutral person, a non-politician, because the president is the head of the state and a symbol of the federation," he said.

Uppermost in Sharifs mind will be the thought of maintaining the delicate balance between the PML-N, which controls the Punjab - Pakistans most populous and influential province - and the PPP, which currently holds a majority in the National Assembly.

The PML-N has floated several possible candidates for the post including ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan - a secular politician from the North West Frontier - and Justice (retd.) Saeed-uz-zaman Siddiqi - a non-political figure who was intimately associated with a Sharif-backed lawyers movement against President Musharraf.

Many citizens, as well as Pakistans Western backers, are urging the parties to resolve political issues and turn their attention to runaway inflation, slowing economic growth and inexorably rising violence by Islamic militants entrenched along the border with Afghanistan.

That need has been rammed home by a string of deadly suicide bombings claimed by Taliban militants in recent days.

The 52-year-old Zardari did not immediately accept his partys nomination, but he has done nothing to tamp down the recent chorus from supporters calling for him to take a post that retains many of the powers accumulated during Musharrafs nine-year rule.

"If the major political party believes that he is the most talented person, then he is the most eligible person for this post," said Nabeel Gabol of Zardaris Pakistan Peoples Party, which gave the leader unanimous support at a meeting Friday.

Party spokeswoman Sherry Rehman said Zardari promised to announce whether he would accept the nomination within 24 hours.

"Now it depends on him whether he himself becomes (president) or nominates someone else," Gabol said.