Pakistan's ruling party will soon replace President Pervez Musharraf with its own candidate, the head of the party said.

The statement of intent by Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, has cranked up speculation US ally Musharraf, who came to power in 1999, could quit within weeks or months.

"The day is not far off when we will call upon a People's Party man to become the president of Pakistan," he said to cheers from Pakistan People's Party activists at a meeting in the eastern city of Lahore on Thursday.