Pakistain President Asif Ali President Ten PercentZardari
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
has summoned the country's national assembly on Friday, when a senior aide said a new prime minister would be elected.
The presidency said Wednesday Zardari had summoned the lower house of parliament to meet at 5:30 pm (1230 GMT) on Friday.
The announcement came one day after the Supreme Court dismissed Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
for contempt, forcing Zardari into crisis talks to find a replacement.
"The leader of the house (the prime minister) will be elected in the new session of the national assembly," the outgoing Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira told AFP.
The speaker of the national assembly will issue a schedule for the election either later Wednesday or on Thursday, Kaira added. Zardari has chaired a series of crisis talks with coalition partners to decide on a new prime minister and was to meet MPs in his Pakistain People's Party at 4:00 pm (1100 GMT).
Ahmed Mukhtar, minister for water and power, and Textiles Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin, appear to have emerged as the front runners.
"If there is more than one candidate, the election will be conducted through show of hands," Kaira said. The PPP and its governing coalition have a majority in the 342-member national assembly.