ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: The main pro-military Pakistan Muslim League-Q party is poised to get its candidate elected prime minister on Thursday and form a government to continue President Pervez Musharraf’s foreign and economic policies.

“Inshallah, we will get the majority,” the party’s prime ministerial candidate, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, told reporters after filing his nomination for the post.

Musharraf, who has stayed out of the limelight since the Oct 10 election, will address the nation on Wednesday.

He is expected to highlight performance during his rule and may also ask Jamali to form the government by proving his majority in the National Assembly on Thursday.

The Pakistan Muslim League’s two main rivals, a six-party alliance of religio-political groups and Pakistan People’s Party, look set for a spell in opposition after talks for a coalition broke down, analysts said.

The PML-Q has already demonstrated its strength by winning a parliamentary ballot for the speaker’s post on Tuesday without needing the support of its rivals, thanks to a successful campaign to woo smaller parties to its side.

It says it is confident of victory again on Thursday, but its majority is likely to be thin, indicating that the first civilian government since a 1999 military takeover might not be stable.

The likely exclusion from government of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, which won 60 seats may reassure Pakistani investors and proponents of the US-led war on terror.

The pro-military Muslim League-Q won 118 seats, well short of a majority in the 342-member assembly, but has attracted small parties to its side as well as defectors from Pakistan People’s Party.

Political analysts said the PML-Q was likely to continue Musharraf’s policies and the way he has handled tension with India over Kashmir, support for the US campaign in Afghanistan and gradual economic reform at home.—Reuters