Until very recently the field of challengers looked uninspiring, particularly after the abrupt withdrawal of Muhammad Khatami, a liberalreformer who won overwhelming victories to serve as president from 1997-2005.
Mr Pallister sounds almost like a Reformer, and would be happiest of the five in the anti-Liberal coalition that the Reform leader, Preston Manning, hopes to launch (as the United Alternative) next February.
But it looked as if the party with the most votes was the one led by Mahmoud Jibril, a sensible modernising reformer who claims to be something between a secular liberal and a mild Islamist.