Pakistan's opposition parties and fundamentalist Islamic parties have agreed to back a joint candidate as prime minister to lead the first civilian government in three years.
"We have reached a unanimous agreement on proposing a joint candidate for prime minister and the speakership," Mr Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, who heads the opposition Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), said.
Mr Khan refused to say whether they had settled on fundamentalist cleric Mr Maulana Fazlur Rehman or Islamic party alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA)'s nominee.
Mr Khan was speaking after meeting executives from the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which spearhead the ARD, and MMA leaders.
A party official said the ARD had agreed to back Mr Rehman.
The PPP and PML-N have authorised Mr Khan to negotiate with MMA on their behalf to form a loose coalition out of the hung parliament produced by the October 10th elections.
AFP