Updated on
Summary President Zardari has convened National Assembly session on Friday to elect the new prime minister.
The announcement came one day after the Supreme Court dismissed Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani 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 a foreign news agency.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 in a bid to decide on a new prime minister and was to meet MPs in his Pakistan Peoples Party at 4:00 pm.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.Meanwhile, PPP leader Syed Khurshid Shah told media that it has been decided to convene the NA session on Friday at 5:30pm, while the nomination papers could be submitted on Thursday.
