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Islamabad: The party of assassinated former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, which is set to lead a coalition government, will announce its candidate for prime minister on Saturday, party officials said.
The decision on who to name for Monday's vote falls to Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which routed allies of President Pervez Musharraf to win the most seats in last month's elections.
PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said that Bhutto's widower and son would make an announcement.
After confirmation by parliament, the new prime minister is set to take an oath from Musharraf on Tuesday, said presidential spokesman Rashid Qureshi.
Bhutto's son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, was appointed party chairman after his mother died in a December suicide attack, but his father is running things while the 19-year-old continues his studies at Oxford University.
He flew to Pakistan on Wednesday, and is expected to make the premiership announcement alongside his father, Asif Ali Zardari.
An aristocratic party stalwart, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, has long been considered the front-runner for prime minister.
As PPP vice-chair, he led Bhutto's followers in parliament during her nearly eight-year exile from Pakistan.
But the party has stalled on nominating Fahim amid speculation that Zardari wants the job. He is currently ineligible because he does not hold a parliamentary seat.
However, he could appoint a stand-in and run for a seat in a by-election within months.
The battle for prime minister has strained party unity - even before it forms a coalition government that faces massive challenges including a wave of Islamic militancy, high inflation and electricity shortages.
The new administration, to be joined by the party of ex-premier Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted in Musharraf's 1999 coup, also faces a confrontation with the unpopular former general, who wants to stay on as president.
Musharraf's party accused Bhutto's and Sharif's parties of trying to "buy the political loyalty".
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