Pakistan set to elect prime minister

Yousaf Raza Gilani, a close aide to slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and a former National Assembly speaker, is expected to win the vote with a big majority.

The National Assembly is to due to meet at about 4 p.m. (1100 GMT) for the vote.

Gilani will be challenged by Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, a senior leader of the main pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (PML) party, which came a poor third in the February 18 general election in which Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won the most seats but not enough to rule alone. The PPP's coalition partners, including the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, which came second in the vote, and a small pro-Musharraf regional party will be voting for Gilani. "We hope to win with a big margin. He's almost a consensus candidate because except for the PML, all other parties are supporting Mr Gilani," said senior PPP official Syed Naveed Qamar.

There had been speculation the PPP would nominate a stop-gap prime minister and Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, who now leads the party, would take over the post after entering parliament via a by-election. But the News newspaper on Monday cited Zardari as rejecting such speculation, saying Gilani would be prime minister for a full five-year term.

Gilani, a soft-spoken, resolute character, was jailed in 2001 by the Musharraf government for making illegal appointments but was freed in 2006. He said the charge was politically motivated. While in prison, Gilani wrote a book that advocated a strong military, but one that was removed from politics. He has called for the repeal of constitutional changes made by Musharraf to bolster his authority, including the power to dismiss a government. The PPP-led coalition nearly has a two-thirds majority in the two-chamber parliament that is needed to amend the constitution.

On Sunday, Gilani swore allegiance to Bhutto and said his government would work for the supremacy of parliament.

U.S. ally Musharraf, who came to power as a general following a coup in 1999, on Monday assured full support to the incoming government and hoped it would maintain "political peace" and continue the fight against Islamist militants. But Musharraf has been politically isolated since the defeat of his allies in last month's election and there is speculation that his old foes now set to form a government will try to force him from power.

The United States and other Western allies fear political instability in their nuclear-armed ally, which is already facing a campaign of attacks by al Qaeda-inspired militants, if there is confrontation between the president and the new government.

Musharraf will swear in Gilani on Tuesday. He is expected to begin naming ministers to his cabinet this week. The incoming government has pledged to pass a resolution to reinstate Supreme Court judges whom Musharraf dismissed in November out of fear they could rule unconstitutional his own re-election in October by the previous assembly. If reinstated, the judges are expected to take up legal challenges to the president which could see his re-election declared unconstitutional.