ISALAMABAD, Pakistan. - In a parliamentary vote Friday, the Pakistan People Party voted Raja Pervez Ashraf to be the country's next prime minister.
Prior to choosing Ashraf, President Asif Ali Zardari nominated Makhdoom Shahabuddin as his first choice, but the Shahuddin; the Health Minister was being charged in a drug scandal and therefore was not an acceptable candidate.
This is not to say Ashraf is clean from controversy and accusations. He has been accused of various corruption charges and the severe power-shortage in Punjab which has caused a series of riots.
The Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is very likely to face the same fate as former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
The former prime minister was disqualified Tuesday because he refused to permit an investigation into the president's corruption charges. Political analyst Najam Sethi told the New York Times, "The court has been gunning for the prime minister for a long time...Clearly there is a lot of politics in this."
Political analysts suggest that since Ashraf is also an ally of Zardari, he is likely to make the same decision and thus suffer the same fate.
The court's recent crack-down on various high-profile government officials has only deepened the animosity between the two institutions, trying to assert power on the other.
Corruptions charges against the president dates back to the 1990s when then Prime Minister the late Benazir Bhutto, Zardari's wife, was suspected of money laundering and bribery. President Zardari denies all accusations claiming that they are politically motivated.
