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Pakistan’s ruling party announces its choice for prime minister

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan’s ruling party Friday nominated Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, a longtime ally of President Asif Ali Zardari, to become Pakistan’s next prime minister.

Ashraf, the country’s outgoing information technology minister and a former water and power minister, was not Zardari’s first choice to replace former Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani, who was forced to leave office this week by the Supreme Court as a result of his conviction in April on contempt charges. The court had ruled that Gilani willfully ignored its order to revive a longstanding corruption case against Zardari, his party leader and close ally.

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On Thursday, Zardari’s ruling Pakistan People’s Party had nominated Makhdoom Shahabuddin, the outgoing textiles minister and a longtime PPP stalwart, to replace Gilani. But within hours of Shahabuddin’s nomination, an anti-narcotics court issued an arrest warrant against him in connection with a drug scandal investigation. Shahabuddin has denied any wrongdoing, but with police on the hunt for him, PPP leaders were forced to find another candidate.

The episode, coupled with the Supreme Court’s actions against Gilani, underscored the deep animosity that taints the relationship between Zardari’s government and the judiciary, led by Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Some commentators in Pakistan have characterized Chaudhry’s removal of Gilani as a ‘judicial coup’ aimed at exacting political damage on Zardari through Gilani’s ouster.

Experts predict that the bad blood between the judiciary and Zardari’s government will only worsen in coming months. Chaudhry isn’t expected to set aside his demand that the government reopen graft proceedings against Zardari. That case involves allegations of kickbacks in Switzerland for which Zardari and his late wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, were convicted in absentia in 2003. Gilani repeatedly balked at Chaudhrys request, arguing that as president, Zardari enjoys constitutional immunity from prosecution.

Parliament was expected to vote on Ashraf’s nomination later Friday. Zardari’s party and its coalition of allied parties have the votes needed to ensure Ashraf’s appointment.

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