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Pakistani opposition discusses next PM

A veteran politician with a reputation as a consensus builder emerged as the favorite to become Pakistan's next prime minister under an agreement by the two biggest opposition parties to form a new government together.

In a sign of the challenges facing the new leadership, a bomb ripped through a truck carrying wedding guests in an area where al-Qaeda-linked militants operate, killing 12 people on Friday.

It was the first major attack on Pakistani civilians since last week's parliamentary elections, in which Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's ruling party suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of two opposition parties.

The leaders of the Pakistan People's Party, which won the most seats, were holding wide-ranging talks yesterday on ways to end a yearlong political crisis that saw the imposition of emergency rule, a purge of the judiciary and the death of hundreds in bombings blamed on Islamic militants.

They appeared eager to clip Musharraf of some of his sweeping powers, including his right to dismiss parliament, according to a statement released by the party of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

The party's choice to head the next government after the new parliament convenes, probably next month, was also being discussed.

A final decision wasn't expected until tomorrow, but party officials and analysts said the front-runner was veteran politician Makhdoom Amin Fahim, 68, a longtime Bhutto loyalist from Sindh Province who refused an offer of the premiership by Musharraf in 2002.

Other possible nominees for the position include Shah Mehmood Qureshi, a top People's Party figure from Punjab Province, and former National Assembly speaker Yousuf Raza Gilani, party officials and analysts said.

Shafqat Mahmood, a prominent political commentator and former People's Party spokesman, said Fahim was the favorite in part because the party wanted a prime minister from Sindh Province, the Bhutto family stronghold. Both Qureshi and Gilani are from Punjab, the biggest and richest of Pakistan's four provinces.

"One of the big assets of Fahim is he is personality that is acceptable to people. He is a consensus builder," Mahmood said. "He would be good in a coalition and in papering over differences."

Fahim, a mild-mannered figure short on charisma, served as the go-between for Musharraf and Bhutto during her eight years in exile. Fahim turned down the prime minister's post because Musharraf wanted him to cut his ties to the Bhutto family.

Bhutto's party won the right to pick the new prime minister by finishing first in last week's balloting, claiming at least 87 of the 268 contested seats. The Pakistan Muslim League-N of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was in second place with 67 seats, while the pro-Musharraf party took only 40 seats.

Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, and Sharif agreed on Thursday to form a new government. Together, the two parties have 154 seats -- sufficient to govern but not enough to impeach Musharraf, who has seen his popularity plummet in recent months.

That means the new government must share power with Musharraf, setting the stage for infighting between the president and a government leadership made up of some of his bitterest rivals.

Sharif and other opposition figures have repeatedly called for Musharraf to step down after voters repudiated his party in the Monday ballot. But Musharraf has insisted he will serve out the five-year term he won last October.

Also see: There may be a blessing inside Musharraf's fate
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