Lahore, Mar 15: Amid tussle within the PPP over who should be nominated for the post of prime minister, close aides to party’s de facto chairman Asif Ali Zardari have reportedly said that he was thinking of nominating his sister Dr Azra Fazal Pechooho as the interim premier.

Quoting the close aides, a BBC report said that as Zardari is not a member of the National Assembly, he could not become premier himself.

In such a situation, he might nominate his sister as a temporary prime minister, said the Daily Times while quoting the BBC report.

Meanwhile, according to another report published in The News, veteran PPP leader Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, who has so far put himself away from media glare, might emerge as the dark horse and get Zardari’s nod for the top post.

"PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has told Gillani that he will be the final choice on the conclusion of his ongoing consultations with the MNAs-elect in groups," the party quoted sources in the PPP and the PML-N as saying.

A prominent PML-N leader, privy to the consultations with the PPP, also said that Gillani, a former National Assembly speaker, was going to ultimately win the nomination by Zardari.

Echoing same sentiments, a PPP leader said that Gillani had been asked to stay low in the current hullabaloo so that he did not embroil himself in controversies unnecessarily.

Gillani had started his political career when he was made a member of Gen Ziaul Haq's handpicked Majlis-e-Shoora. He remained with the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) for a few years. Later, he joined the PPP. He suffered a lot because of his imprisonment on a frivolous charge of recruiting people in the National Assembly Secretariat during his stint as NA Speaker. (ANI)