Woman nominated as speaker in Pakistan

The party of slain Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on Tuesday nominated a close associate of her widower to be parliament’s first female speaker, but divisions remained over who should be prime minister.

Fahmida Mirza, a businesswoman and three-time lawmaker, will become speaker of the National Assembly, the lower house, if approved as expected in a parliamentary vote today.

Her husband is a longtime confidant of Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto’s widower and now the party leader, who is thought to have a final say over the party’s nominations.

Followers of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who won the second-largest number of seats in parliamentary elections last month, have pledged to form a coalition government with Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, which won the largest number. The PPP will nominate a prime minister.

There is speculation that if Mirza, who is from Sindh province, becomes speaker, the prime minister probably will hail from Punjab, the country’s most populous province.