Woman may become Pakistan's Speaker

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 18 (UPI) -- A 51-year-old medical school graduate, who is also a businesswoman, is expected to become the first woman speaker of Pakistan's national assembly.

The Pakistan People's Party of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has nominated Fahmida Mirza for the speaker's post, Dawn reported.

The election is set for Wednesday and Mirza is a strong favorite since her party and other members in the new coalition government have a comfortable majority in the assembly.

Mirza, a three-time elected member of the assembly, graduated from the Liaquat Medical College but has become a businesswoman, the report said. She is the wife of Zulfiqar Mirza, a close friend of Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's husband who is co-chairman of the PPP.

The coalition government is yet to name its candidate for prime minister.

Besides the PPP, the coalition includes former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's faction of the Pakistan Muslim League and two other regional parties, the Awami National Party and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.

The PPP is the largest party in the national assembly with 120 seats in the 342-member body.