New Prime Minister: Coalition partners repose faith in PPP, again
ISLAMABAD: All coalition partners of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have once again reposed their faith in President Asif Ali Zardari and his party to nominate a candidate for the slot of prime minister, Express News reported.
The decision was taken at a meeting of coalition partners at the Presidency on Thursday evening to decide which of the nominees who had filed their nomination papers for the prime minister’s slot would be the prime candidate for the position after the initial candidate on which the coalition had decided upon, Makhdoom Shahbuddin, had warrants issued against him.
An Anti-Narcotics Force magistrate issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Shahabuddin’s alleged involvement in the ephedrine case.
Senior PPP leader Khursheed Shah will announce the ruling coalition’s nominee the PM slot at 11am on Friday.
Those who were present in the meeting included Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, ChaudhryPervez Ilahi, Dr Farooq Sattar, Mir Israrullah Zehri, Afrasiab Khattak, Munir Khan Aurakzai, Babar Ghouri, Hameed ullah Jan Afridi, Haider Abbas Rizvi, Senator Abbas Khan Afridi, Mohammad Jadim Mangrio and Syed Khursheed Shah. Vice Chairman PPP and former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was also present.
Raja Parvaiz Ashraf finalised?
Some sources told Express News that the name of Raja Pervaiz Ashraf for the prime minister’s slot had been finalised in the coalition members meeting at the Presidency late on Thursday.
Some parliamentary members belonging to the PPP said that they did not agree with the choice of Ashraf as the premier.
They added that they were not happy with the way affairs had been handled after former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had been disqualified. They told Express News correspondent Waqar Satti that their reservations had been made known to senior party leader Khursheed Shah. They warned that unless their reservations were not paid heed to, they may not vote in favour of Ashraf, or may even choose to remain absent from the Friday evening Assembly session.
Earlier on Thursday, at least five members of the National Assembly filed their nomination papers to contest for the seat of prime minister.
Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf filed their nomination papers for the PPP.
In addition to these candidates, JUI-F chief Maualana Fazlur Rehman and PML-N’s Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi have also filed their nomination papers.