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If Zardari is serious about electing a women president, Speaker Mirza will be a favorite candidate.
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ISLAMABAD — The resignation of Pervez Musharraf is leaving Pakistanis guessing who their next president would be, amid expectations of a heated battle between the ruling coalition partners to claim the coveted post.
Asif Zardari, the co-chairman of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of former premier Benazir Bhutto, has recent said the next president could be a woman.
"If Zardari is serious, then National Assembly Speaker Fahmida Mirza will be the top priority for the office of the president," a senior PPP leader told IslamOnline.net, requesting anonymity.
Mirza, a politician, doctor and entrepreneur, made history earlier this year as the first-ever parliament woman speaker in Pakistan's history.
Faryal Talpur, a younger sister of Zardari, is also a potential candidate if the country’s next president will be a women, added the PPP leader.
Under the threat of impeachment, Musharraf announced his immediate resignation earlier on Monday, August 18, after nine years in power.
Chairman Senate Mohammedmian Soomro has taken over as acting president until the election of new president.
According to the constitution, a new president must be elected within 30 days from the resignation of his predecessor.
PPP Candidates
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Ali Shah, a close Sharif ally who returned two days ago after seven years of self-exile in London, is a possible candidate.
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Zardari has repeatedly stated that the new president will be a person who raises the "Long Live Bhutto" slogan in the president house.
His son and PPP co-chairman Bilawal, who air dashed Karachi from London Monday, told a news conference that the new president will be from his party.
The 19-year-old son of Bhutto said a consensus decision in this connection will be taken after consultation with the coalition partners.
Aftab Shaban Mirani, a former defense minister and a close relative of Bhutto, is also being taken as a serious candidate for the presidential post.
Ansar Abbasi, an Islamabad-based political analyst, believes the new president will be from the smaller provinces.
"As the prime minister belongs to Punjab (the biggest and riches province, which is considered power base of the country’s politics), therefore the president must be from Sindh, Balochistan or north western frontier province (NWFP)," he told IOL.
"My idea is that the new president will be from NWFP or Balochistan because these two provinces have been restless for many years, and a president from one of two provinces will heal the wounds of their people."
National Assembly Speaker Mirza hails from Badin, a backward district of southern Sindh, Bhutto's home province.
Mirani, who has recently been elected as a member of the national assembly in by-elections, also belongs to Sindh.
Abbasi believes that Sardar Attaullah Mengal, a Baloch nationalist leader who has been badly victimized during Musharraf regime, or Asfandyar Wali, a Pushtun nationalist leader and head of the left-wing Awami National Party (ANP), are also possible candidates.
"Sardar Mengal will be an ideal candidate whose election will strengthen the tottering solidarity in the country."
The leaders of the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) of former premier Nawaz Sharif are meeting Monday to reach a decision on the issue.
The PML-N has not yet announced any stance on the new president or whether it wants the post.
Analysts see Syed Ghous Ali Shah, a senior PLM-N leader who has returned after seven years of self-exile in London a couple of days ago, as a possible candidate.
"If Zardari agrees to surrender the president’s office to Nawaz Sharif, then his first choice will be Ghous Ali Shah," says Yousaf Khan, a Karachi-based political analyst.
Ceremonial
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"The new president will be a ceremonial head of the state," Abbasi expects.
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Abbasi, an Islamabad-based political analyst, does not expect the ruling coalition to be at loggerheads on the issue of new president.
"The new president will be a ceremonial head of the state, therefore it doesn’t bother Sharif even if Zardari insists on a PPP candidate for the presidential office."
Analysts believe that whoever will be the president, he or she will be a ceremonial head of the state whose only work will be to endorse the parliamentary bills and represent the country in conferences and seminars.
"That is why Nawaz Sharif and Zardari are not interested to sit in the office of the president because the next step of the ruling coalition will be to annul the article 58-2B of the constitution, which grants power to the president to dissolve the government and the parliament."
Shafqat Mahmood, an Islamabad-based political analyst, believes Pakistan needs an impartial and non-partisan president.
"President’s office demands neutrality and impartiality. If a party man is elected for this post, then these requirements will not be met," he said.
"President acts as the head of the state, and he doesn’t belong to any party. This experience has failed in past too," Shafqat said referring to the election of Farooq Ahmed Leghari as president in 1993 by the PPP government.
Leghari was highly controversial during his four-year stint and was targeted by opposition parties as a punching bag.
"Instead of electing a president from the two major parties, he should be a neutral and well-reputed person who will serve the country rather than the party."
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