Pakistan ruling party replaces PM nominee

The South Asian nation's three power centers -- the military, civilian leadership and Supreme Court -- have been furiously maneuvering in recent weeks in a struggle for influence. The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) had nominated the textiles minister to replace Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court this week. But an anti-narcotics court issued an arrest warrant for the textiles minister, undermining his bid, in a move analysts said may have been orchestrated by the powerful military. Parliament met on Friday to elect a new prime minister, who will face a staggering range of troubles from a struggling economy to poverty to crumbling infrastructure. The ruling coalition has the numbers in parliament to comfortably elect Ashraf, who faces two candidates from opposition parties. Pakistan also faces tensions on the diplomatic front. The country's longstanding alliance with the United States has frequently been subject to turbulence, but relations are at their lowest point in years. The opening salvo in the domestic drama came when the Supreme Court removed Gilani -- one of the longest serving civilian prime ministers in a country dominated by the military. Then an anti-narcotics court moved against the PPP's first choice to replace him, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, issuing an arrest warrant against the minister because of his alleged connection with a case of illegal quotas for ephedrine.