Click to play videoNew Delhi: The PPP parliamentarians meeting, to select the party's prime ministerial nominee, has concluded. It lasted for over two hours.
The party has not made a formal announcement as yet. The word is that the PPP will declare its chosen nominee within the next 48 hours.
Till about a week ago vice-chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim was the frontrunner. But sources in Islamabad tell CNN-IBN that Chaudhary Ahmad Mukhtaar, a PPP leader from Punjab - could be appointed stopgap Prime Minister.
He may be asked to keep the seat warm for Asif Ali Zardari who is keen to become Prime Minister.
Zardari is expected to contest from Larkana now that the corruption cases against him have been dropped. Sources say Fahim is expected to turn down the offer of premiership over his differences with Zardari and thus wants a stopgap arrangement for sometime before he contests from Larkana.
The US and other foreign backers hope Pakistan's new government will prove a stable partner committed to preventing al-Qaeda and the Taliban from mounting attacks in Afghanistan and the West.
In a move that could smooth relations between Bhutto's party and Musharraf, an anti-corruption court on Wednesday quashed five graft charges against Zardari.
The charges were dropped under an order signed by the president last year, which persuaded Bhutto to return only to be assassinated at a campaign rally in December.
Zardari's acquittal will dismay some Pakistanis who view their ruling elite as corrupt and incompetent. But many people have more immediate concerns, such as fast-rising prices and shortages of fuel and even flour to bake bread.
On Thursday morning, a massive power outage struck Karachi, the country's commercial hub, leaving millions without power for several hours. Similar cuts last summer prompted rioting across the city.
The caretaker government last week slashed subsidies on gasoline prices in a bid to contain a ballooning budget deficit.
(With AP inputs)
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