ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The ruling party nominated Raja Pervez Ashraf, a former minister for water and power, as its candidate for prime minister on Friday morning, making it likely he would lead the government after a parliamentary vote later in the day.

Mr. Ashraf looks set to replace Yousaf Raza Gilani, who was dismissed as prime minister on Tuesday by the Supreme Court after he refused to push for the reopening of a corruption case in Switzerland against his party leader, President Asif Ali Zardari.
Mr. Ashraf is a controversial choice, dogged by corruption allegations and partly blamed for the severe electricity crisis currently afflicting the country. But efforts to select a replacement prime minister have been fraught with intrigue.
The first choice, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, fell out of the race on Thursday after the military-run Anti-Narcotics Force obtained a warrant for his arrest. Mr. Zardari’s supporters saw the timing of the warrant as further proof that the country’s judges and generals were collaborating to oust their government. The chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has insisted that he is merely holding elected officials to account.
After an intensive round of consultations, both internally and with its minority coalition partners, the leadership of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party announced Mr. Ashraf as their candidate on Friday morning.
“I want to say that in every difficult situation, our political allies have stood by us for the supremacy of Parliament and the continuation of democracy,” Kursheed Shah, a senior party leader, told reporters outside Parliament.
Mr. Shah said the decision showed that the government was determined not to enter into open confrontation with the judiciary. Now, he added, it is focused on elections that are scheduled to take place within the next year.
“The people of Pakistan should decide if we have made any mistake,” he said. “We are headed for an election year.”
Mr. Ashraf was born in Sindh Province but is an ethnic Punjabi and represents Rawalpindi, the garrison city near Islamabad. As minister for water and power between March 2008 and February 2011, he is accused of being responsible in large part for the country’s electricity crisis.
As the summer temperatures have soared, straining a dilapidated and underfunded electricity grid, some areas have suffered up to 22 hours of outages. Earlier this week, thousands of rioters in cities across Punjab Province clashed with police and burned property.
Opposition politicians claim that Mr. Ashraf took kickbacks for private power projects and used the proceeds to buy property in London. The National Accountability Bureau, which investigates corruption allegations, questioned Mr. Ashraf in April.
Mr. Ashraf denied the charges before Parliament, describing his critics as “liars.” He later served as minister for information technology. As prime minister, though, his most immediate challenge is likely to come from the Supreme Court. There is widespread speculation that the court will immediately order the new prime minister to write a letter asking Swiss authorities to reopen of the corruption probe of Mr. Zardari. Mr. Gilani’s refusal to do so resulted in his dismissal.
That possibility may help explain Mr. Ashraf’s choice as prime minister. Political analysts say that, because his chances of re-election are considered weak, the ruling party may have decided that his disqualification would represent a small political loss.
With such intense political instability, and continuing clashes between the government and judiciary, early elections are a growing possibility. Parliament’s term expires on March 18 and elections could technically take place as late as next June.
Salman Masood contributed reporting.