MULTAN, Nov 23: Seven members of the new federal cabinet belong to the southern part of the Punjab.

Of them, three are federal ministers and the rest state ministers.

Of the federal ministers, Abdul Sattar Laleka belongs to PML-Q, Awais Leghari to National Alliance and Noraiz Shakoor to PPP forward bloc.

Among the state ministers, Sikandar Bosan hails from PML-Q, Barrister Raza Hayat Hiraj and Raees Muneer Ahmed to the PPP forward bloc whereas Hamid Yar Hiraj had joined PML-Q after being elected as an independent in the Oct 10 election.

Young Awais Leghari is the son of former president and now NA leader Sardar Farooq Ahmed Leghari whose Millat Party is by and large a family affair. Five of its seven MNAs elected to the house on general seats are kith and kin of the Leghari chief. The Leghari chief did not stop here and awarded two reserve seats for women to his niece Ayila Malik and sister -in-law Meena Leghari, Afgan origin wife of his cousin MNA Jaffer Leghari.

Sardar Leghari had projected himself as a candidate for the premiership during campaign for Oct 10 election. However, the outcome of the election was not in his favour and now he has to be content with a federal ministry and six MNAs in the house of Legharis.

Hirajs of Khanewal have succeeded in getting two state ministries. Perhaps, they have not dreamt of such a fortune of their clan. Barrister Raza and Hamid Yar are cousins and reportedly a sister of the latter is the wife of former’s brother.

Raza Hayat defeated veteran Syed Fakhar Imam on PPP ticket while the latter was a PML-Q candidate. However, Raza’s attitude towards his party had been suspicious even before the Oct 10 election. He allegedly tried to get PML-Q ticket or at least its support as was done by his cousin Hamid Yar by leaving PPP and contesting as an independent while the PML-Q did not field any candidate against him (Hamid Yar).

But, it was difficult for the PML-Q leadership to deny ticket to a giant like Fakhar Imam, even though he was a potential threat to premiership candidates in the PML-Q folds. Although, the former National Assembly speaker is always considered an ally of the establishment, his inclination to show guts for some principles is disliked in the power corridors.

During the electioneering Raza Hayat was served with a show cause notice by the party for supporting National Alliance candidate Husain Jehania Gardezi at a provincial seat against PPP’s Sajid Abbas Thaheem. Sources in the Khanewal PPP confirmed that it was Barrister Raza who convinced his cousins to desert PPP prior to the election. Syed Fakhar Imam had defeated Raza Hayat in the 1997 general election.

It may be interesting to note that opponents of both Fakhar Imam and his wife Abida Hussain have been accommodated in the federal cabinet. Abida Hussain was defeated in her hometown, Jhang district, by PPP’s Faisel Saleh Hayat who later on spearheaded the splinter group of his party to ensure the PML-Q government in the centre, though, with a thin margin.

To reward Saleh for “answering the call of his conscience,” he has also been decorated with a federal ministry despite being tried by an accountability court for wilful default.

Hamid Yar Hiraj is the brother of Khanewal district Nazim Ahmed Yar Hiraj. Hamid and his MPA-elect brother Muhammad Yar deserted the party at the eleventh hour on the last day of symbol allotment by opting to go independent for the Oct 10 election. A day before, they had rather cleverly withdrawn candidatures of their respective covering candidates who were diehard PPP workers.

Hamid Yar has secured a position in the cabinet for being among those who succumbed to the powers that be in the country before the election and Raza Hayat notched the ministry for responding to the “call of conscience” after the election.

Noraiz Shakoor was elected to the National Assembly from Sahiwal on PPP ticket and he shares the credit along with Faisel Saleh Hayat and Rao Sikandar Iqbal to lead the revolt in PPP to practically become coalition partners with PML-Q to form the government.

He was also served with a show cause notice by the party high command before the Oct 10 election for vehemently supporting an independent, Tariq Javed, against party colleague Ghulam Farid Kathia in NA-161 (Sahiwal-II). But, he remained unmoved as Tariq Javed returned to the assembly, thanks to Noraiz Shakoor besides the coffers he holds.

A political heavyweight from Bahawalnagar, Abdul Sattar Laleka is also among the politicians who change their loyalties way the wind is blowing. He was the minister for agriculture in the cabinet of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and likes to be labelled as ‘agriculture expert’.

After winning the elections, the first thing he did in Islamabad was to give interviews to hail the polices of general Musharraf in the agriculture and water sectors.

Sikandar Bosan, an MNA from Multan, in real terms is the only PML-Q man who is given a place in the federal cabinet from the south Punjab. Bosan, who likes to be called Haji Sahib, returned to the assembly after a very close contest with Mujtaba Gillani, the younger brother of incarcerated PPP leader Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani.

A well-placed source in the district administration told this correspondent a few days after the election that Sikandar was among the MNAs who won in the process of ‘counting’.

Feudal lord from Bhong area of Sadiqabad, Rahim Yar Khan, Raees Muneer was chairman of the federal social welfare council during the second stint of Benazir Bhutto as prime minister. Earlier, the Raees family was in the ranks of IJI. He defeated his uncle Raees Wazeer Ahmad in the Oct 10 election who was a PML-Q nominee.