ISLAMABAD, APRIL 28: Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is unlikely to contest upcoming parliamentary by-polls, giving rise to speculation that his coalition partner PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif may follow suit.

Zardari preferred to continue to lead the party without entering the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament, sources in the PPP said.

Though there were indications earlier that Zardari might contest the June 18 by-polls from his slain wife Benazir Bhutto’s traditional constituency of Larkana, the party would now field his sister Faryal Talpur from the seat, the sources told Dawn newspaper.

During a recent interview, Zardari too hinted at this possibility.

However, he had neither confirmed nor denied reports that he might contest elections from a constituency in Rawalpindi, thus keeping his options open in case of a change of mind.

The PPP has short-listed two candidates Aitzaz Ahsan and Amir Fida Paracha for the seat in Rawalpindi that was vacated by PML-N leader Javed Hashmi.

A senior PPP leader told the Dawn that the party had decided that Zardari would not contest the by-elections but a formal decision would be taken on May 6, the last date for filing nominations.

“I think he will not be a candidate,” the PPP leader said.

Though former premier Sharif has not yet taken a formal decision yet on contesting the by-polls, it is believed that he will not be a candidate if Zardari decides to keep out of the by-elections.

PML-N leader Hashmi had won in three constituencies in the February 18 general election and retained his seat in his hometown of Multan.

It was widely expected that Sharif would contest the by-polls from a seat in Lahore that was given up by Hashmi.

Over the past two months, Zardari has kept political circles here on tenterhooks on the issue of assuming the post of prime minister.

After telling the BBC’s Urdu service earlier this month that he could become the prime minister if the “need arises”, he said in an interview with a Pakistani channel last week that he had no plans to become premier.

Militants behead ‘spy’ in Waziristan

WANA: PRO-Taliban militants beheaded a policeman in Pakistan’s troubled tribal belt bordering Afghanistan on Monday after accusing him of spying for security forces, police said.

The body of 35-year-old Shaukat Khan was found dumped in a field at Dabar village in the tribal zone of South Waziristan, a day after he was abducted by gunmen, senior police officer Mumtaz Zarin said.

A note found near the body said he was involved in the killing of Islamist warlord Nek Mohammad in a suspected US missile strike in June 2004 in the region, Zarin said.