Pakistan continues to have difficulty finding someone willing to be its nationalist champion against India’s Shashi Tharoor.

It’s latest candidate-to-be-named, Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, has not yet received the reassurances that Islamabad would provide her the necessary support to effectively challenge Tharoor for the post of UNSG. Tharoor was formally nominated as a candidate on Thursday and has begun his campaign in Africa.

To date, Pakistan has leaked the names of four officials who were being considered.

• Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz – would prefer to stay on as Prime Minister until 2012. (Maybe he’ll challenge Ramos-Horta?)
• UN Ambassador Munir Akram – does not want to give up his seat at the UN just yet
• Former UNFPA Director Dr. Nafis Sadik – has told friends she has no interest in the post
• Ambassador to the UK Maleeha Lodhi – ??

Lodhi’s name was raised as a possibility after, one by one, the others declined the honor and after it was reported that Pakistan had given up and would instead back one of Tharoor’s current challengers.

Considering the difficulty Pakistan is having with finding one of its own to challenge Tharoor, the government might want to revisit that option.

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