FACTBOX: Five facts on Pakistan Prime Minister Gilani

(Reuters) - Pakistan's National Assembly elected Yousaf Raza Gilani as prime minister on Monday.

Gilani, of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), is a former National Assembly speaker.

Gilani, the PPP's first ever non-Bhutto prime minister, will lead a coalition government dominated by the PPP and Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz). The PPP has the right to name the prime minister because it won the most seats in a February 18 election.

Here are five facts on 55-year-old Gilani.

* Born on June 9, 1952, in Karachi, Gilani comes from a family of prominent landowners and spiritual leaders in Multan, in the south of Punjab province. His grandfather and grand-uncles were members of the All India Muslim League, and signed the 1940 Pakistan resolution that led to partition of British-ruled India. His father was a provincial minister in the 1950s.

* Gilani joined the Muslim League's central leadership in 1978, after completing an MA in journalism at the University of Punjab. In 1983, he was elected chairman of Multan union council, in 1985 he became an MP. In 1988, after being sidelined in the party, he switched to Benazir Bhutto's opposition PPP, and defeated then Punjab Chief Minister Nawaz Sharif.

* Losing in 1997 polls, Gilani was jailed in 2001 by President Musharraf, and served five years on charges of making illegal appointments when speaker of parliament during the PPP's 1993-1996 rule. He says the charges were meant to pressure him to leave the PPP and join Musharraf's government. He was exonerated and freed 2006.

* While in prison, the soft-spoken, resolute Gilani wrote a book that advocates a strong military, but one that is removed from politics. He has called for the repeal of constitutional changes made by Musharraf, including the power to dismiss a government. The PPP-led coalition nearly has the two-thirds majority in parliament that is needed to amend the constitution.

* Analysts say Gilani is a strategic choice to help offset Nawaz Sharif in Punjab. Pakistan's most populous province, Punjab has a reputation for making or breaking governments and saw a swing to the Pakistan Muslim League in the February 18 vote.

Source: Reuters

(Writing by Gillian Murdoch, Singapore Editorial Reference Unit)