PPP's Fahim frontrunner for prime minister's post

Musharraf says he is ready to work with the new Parliament.

Senior Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim has emerged frontrunner for prime ministership in the new coalition government in Pakistan as the two main opposition parties "" the PPP and the PML(N) "" worked for a power-sharing formula.

The newly-elected parliamentarians of the PPP, which has emerged the single-largest party, met for the first time today and discussed the name of Fahim, 68-year-old vice-president of the PPP, and a few others, for prime ministership. The party authorised Zardari to name the new prime minister.

No final decision had been taken yet, party sources said, adding that the two-hour meeting was convened to discuss the last night's decision by former rivals, PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML(N) chief Nawaz Sharif, to form a national consensus government.

Names of PPP's Punjab President and former central minister Shah Mehmood Quereshi, senior leader Yousuf Reza Gillani, and firebrand lawyer Aitaz Ahsan were also discussed.

The PML(N) has already made it clear that the prime minister will be from the PPP. "We are waiting for the PPP to nominate a suitable member from the National Assembly," PML(N) Joint Secretary Siddique-ul-Farooq told PTI.

Neither Zardari nor Sharif are eligible because they are not MPs.

Meanwhile, the PML(Q), the ruling party which backed President Pervez Musharraf, said it doubted that the PPP-led alliance would be stable. It called the arrangement a "marriage of convenience".

As the PPP and the PML(N) joined hands, Musharraf said in a signed article in the Washington Post that he would work with the new Parliament.

Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led war on terror, said Pakistan required continued US support to defeat terrorism, forge a stable government and create foundation for economic growth.

"Because these goals are shared by the vast majority of Pakistanis, I am certain we can and will accomplish them, and I stand ready to work with the newly elected parliament to achieve these objectives," he wrote.

In comments that would be soothing for Musharraf, US Assistant Secretary of State Richard A Boucher told reporters in Brussels that Washington "looked forward to working with President Musharraf in his new role" and all other elements of Pakistani civil society and the government.

The PPP won 87 National Assembly seats in Monday's vote while the PML(N) won 67 out of the 268 seats contested. The PML(Q) won 40, with the rest going to smaller parties and independent candidates.

Six results have yet to be announced. Fahim had unsuccessfully contested the October Presidential election against Musharraf but later withdrew protesting that the General was not eligible since he was the Army chief then.

Farooq said: "The decision by the PML(N), the PPP and the Awami National Party to form government at the Centre is a happy sign for the things to come in our efforts to achieve complete democracy."