Yousaf Raza Gilani, a longtime loyalist of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, was elected prime minister by Pakistani’s parliament on Monday.

The National Assembly voted 264 to 42 to assign the post to Gilani. He is supposed to be sworn in Tuesday by President Pervez Musharraf.

After being elected, Gilani shook hands with Bhutto’s son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who was obviously touched by the event.

The parliament shook with cheering for Bhutto, such as “Long live Bhutto!” and “BB is still alive!”

Gilani assured that his first action as a prime minister would certainly be to demand a United Nations probe into Bhutto’s assassination, the Associated Press informed.

He also said he would request the release of all the judges arrested last November by Musharraf, when the president declared a state of emergency. Gilani also spent five years in prison, on corruption and other charges, of which he declared himself not guilty.

The question is how long Gilani will maintain his newly gained position as a prime minister. Political analysts predict that Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto’s widower, would take over the post soon.

But according to the Pakistani newspaper, The News, Zardari assured the public that was not interested in obtaining Gilani’s position.

“The new prime minister spent four years in jail, said no to the many offers of the establishment, faced character assassination attempts, he knows who the enemies of democracy are and he also knows how to strengthen democracy in Pakistan,” Zardari said, in the newspaper’s report.

The newly elected prime minister is expected to adopt a U.S. friendly policy, supporting the United States’ counterterrorism movement.