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Bhutto's Party Poised to Announce Candidate for Pakistan's Next Prime Minister


The party of Pakistan's late opposition leader Benazir Bhutto says it will name a candidate for prime minister in the next two days.

A spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) - now run by Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari and their son - says the announcement will be made late Saturday or Sunday.

The PPP won the most votes in last month's parliamentary elections, defeating President Pervez Musharraf's allies and gaining the right to form the next government.

On Monday, the parliament is scheduled to vote for a new prime minister.

But the PPP has struggled to come up with a candidate. Among the contenders are party president Makhdoom Amin Fahim and former parliament speaker Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Party co-chair and son of Ms. Bhutto and Mr. Zardari, 19-year-old Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, is in Pakistan and will announce the party's candidate.

He was chosen along with his father to lead the party after his mother's assassination last December. However, his father is in charge of the day to day affairs while his son completes his studies in London.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

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