VOA News
It came as no surprise that Yousuf Raza Gilani was selected Monday by the Parliament to become Pakistan's 22nd prime minister. He was put forward for prime minister Saturday by the Pakistan Peoples Party, which is the largest in the new parliament.
The runner-up in last month's national balloting, the party headed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, also pledged to support Mr. Gilani.
Assembly speaker Fahmid Mirza announced Mr. Gilani received 264 votes of the 342-seat lower house.
[..]Mr. Gilani, in his first significant act, also ordered the immediate release of all judges who had been detained by President Musharraf. Within minutes, barricades began coming down in Islamabad where some of the judges had been under house arrest for months.
Mr. Gilani will be sworn in by the president Tuesday morning. It will be a poignant moment as the embattled and unpopular Mr. Musharraf installs a government formed by his chief political opponents. Some in the new government will press the former army general to resign or, failing that, will likely move to begin impeachment proceedings.
[..]History does not bode well for Mr. Gilani serving out a full five-year term. No prime minister in Pakistan's history has ever stayed that long in office; many having been removed by presidential decree or military coups.
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