ISLAMABAD: After PPP’s major coalition partners — the Pakistan Muslim League-Q and Awami National Party — softened their demand for the post of the deputy chairman of the Senate, its junior ally, the Balochistan National Party-A, has staked its claim for the office.
“Yes, our party president has informed President Zardari during last night’s meeting that we are also a contender for the office of the deputy chairman of the Senate,” BNP-A Senator Kalsoom Parveen told Dawn here on Tuesday.
The chief of BNP-A, Senator Mir Israrullah Khan Zehri, attended the meeting of heads of coalition parties at the Presidency on Monday.
Ms Parveen said the BNP-A was an important coalition partner and deserved to get the office of deputy chairman because there was an understanding that the post would go to a Senator from Balochistan.
The BNP-A now has four members in the Senate, including two women. Naseema Ehsan was elected on a reserved seat for women in last week’s Senate polls.
Meanwhile, one of the participants of the Monday night’s meeting at the Presidency told Dawn that all coalition partners had authorised President Asif Ali Zardari to take a decision about appointment of the chairman and deputy chairman.
He claimed that the heads of coalition parties had told the president that they would have no objection if he nominated PPP members for both the offices.Soon after the Senate elections on March 2, both the PML-Q and the ANP not only asserted that they were the rightful contenders for deputy chairman’s office, for which the election will be held after the new members take oath on March 12, but also suggested names of their possible candidates.
Since the incumbent deputy chairman Jan Mohammad Jamali of the PML-Q belongs to Balochistan, the PML-Q floated the name of Rubina Irfan, whereas the ANP termed Daud Khan Achakzai the most appropriate candidate for the office. The two new members hail from Balochistan.
ANP’s information secretary Zahid Khan told Dawn that his party had only expressed its desire to get the office of deputy chairman but it had not formally put any demand before the PPP. Similarly, a senior PML-Q member said his party was not in the race for any of the two offices. However, he said, the party believed that if President Zardari was looking for a Baloch woman for any of the offices, the PML-Q had the best candidate in the person of senator-elect Rubina Irfan.
A senior PPP member, who attended the Monday night meeting, said the party had so far not finalised any name for the two offices.
Replying to a question, he did not rule out the possibility that the PPP leadership might replace the incumbent chairman, Mr Farooq Naek, with another party man, saying: “No decision has been taken about chairman. It is still open.”
There have been speculations within political and journalistic circles in the capital over the past two days regarding possible candidates for the offices of the Senate chairman and deputy chairman.
The names of Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, Raza Rabbani, Babar Awan, Farhatullah Babar, Sardar Fateh Mohammad Hasni, Nayyar Bokhari, Sabir Baloch, Rehman Malik and Rubina Irfan have been in the air as strong contenders for any of the two offices.
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