HARIPUR: Trouble is brewing in the Pakistan People’s Party’s Hazara division chapter over the last-minute nomination of Senator Rubina Khalid for the upcoming Senate elections from KP with many claiming the influential parliamentarian has swayed the leadership to drop Dr Faiza Rasheed, president of party’s women wing in Haripur district, as the candidate for woman seat.

PPP activists insist the development will deal a blow to the party in the province at a time when it is suffering from wrong policies.

They told Dawn that PPP Central Coordination Committee had approved Dr Faiza Rasheed as the candidate for KP woman seat in the Senate polls but outgoing Senator Rubina Khalid, who was the sister of former provincial president Syed Zahir Ali Shah, got herself named for the polls for the second time after meeting co-chairman Asif Zardari’s powerful sister Faryal Talpur.

Senior PPP leader in Hazara division Ejaz Ali Khan Durrani confirmed the development.

Party fields Rubina Khalid for coming polls after dropping Dr Faiza

“I don’t know the reasons but it is right that Dr Faiza is no more the party’s candidate for Senate elections,” he told Dawn.

Party leader in Haripur district Gulnaz Rasheed also said the party had named Senator Rubina Khalid for the second time from KP in the Senate elections after the party’s provincial leadership opposed the nomination of Dr Faiza.

She however warned such moves would harm the party’s interests. Ms Gulnaz said the party had suffered in the past too when it first fielded senior leader from Abbottabad Shamroz Khan Jadoon for the Senate elections but later changed decision.

“The leadership’s approach of ignoring Hazara division for Senate nominations since 1970s has already caused irreparable loss to the party, which will suffer more after the reversal of Dr Faiza’s naming,” she said.

Local PPP activist Hasrat Khan insisted that giving second chance to Rubina Khalid to become a senator and that, too, after dropping a committed worker from Hazara division, Dr Faiza, was against democratic norms.

Former PPP MPA from Abbottabad Shamroz Khan Jadoon said the party would continue to suffer for ignoring Hazara division in Senate nominations.

PPP activist from Mansehra Waris Khan also criticised the dumping of Dr Faiza and When contacted, Dr Faiza insisted her name was approved by the party’s Central Coordination Committee headed by Asif Zardari but Rubina Khalid along with some other sitting and former women MPAs from Peshawar visited Faryal Talpur and ‘forced’ her into naming her (Rubina) for Senate elections. She said the move went against the spirit of the party’s manifesto.

“Rubina Khalid has been named just because she is the sister of influential former provincial party president Syed Zahir Shah,” she said, adding that she would she would protest the nomination.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2018