TURMOIL

Pakistan Nominates New PM

Court issues warrant for his arrest.

It only took hours for a court in Pakistan Thursday to announce a warrant for Makhdoom Shahabuddin, who had just been nominated to serve as the country’s prime minister. The country has been cast into uncertainty after Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was declared ineligible to serve by Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday. The nuclear power’s political class has been divided over the last week by an ongoing confrontation over alleged instances of corruption by President Asif Ali Zardari. The warrant issued for Shahabuddin is tied to allegations of smuggling medications while serving as health minister –a case that may also involve Gilani’s son. The Pakistani parliament will meet on Friday to elect a new prime minister.