‘Clash’ between Asif, Fahim averted

[mujahideen]

Fahim wants coalition to name PM candidate

By Ahmed Hassan

ISLAMABAD, March 19: PPP Parliamentarians president Makhdoom Amin Fahim has called upon the leadership of the parties in the new ruling coalition to jointly name a candidate for the post of prime minister, instead of leaving it to an individual, an obvious reference to PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

Mr Fahim made the observation while presiding over a meeting of the joint parliamentary group at the Parliament House here on Wednesday.

About 240 MNAs, including 10 independent lawmakers from Fata, attended the meeting, according to PPP parliamentary secretary Izhar Amrohi.

A form was distributed among the MNAs seeking their preference for the standing committee they would like to be associated with.

Sources said that 46 standing committees were being formed to accommodate half of the MNAs while others would be appointed as parliamentary secretaries.

In a related development, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, a PPP aspirant for the post of prime minister from Gujrat, objected to Mr Fahim presiding over the meeting in the absence of Mr Zardari and said it should be presided over by PPP’s chief whip Khurshid Shah.

He denied media reports that he had boycotted the meeting when he came out in the middle of the deliberations, and returned after some time.

Earlier, the coalition partners failed in their attempt to persuade the opposition to cut short the election process for speaker and deputy speaker.

According to the sources, Khurshid Shah and Naveed Qamar of the PPP had approached PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and asked him to withdraw opposition’s candidate for the post of speaker Sardar Mohammad Israr Tareen.

Chaudhry Shujaat is reported to have made a counter-offer, asking the treasury members to withdraw their candidate for the post deputy speaker in favour of Khushbakht Shujaat of the MQM and allow two women to became custodians of the house.

Fahim wants coalition to name PM candidate -DAWN - Top Stories; March 20, 2008

 

[mujahideen]

Bilawal, Fahim in cat and mouse game

By Asim Yasin

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reached Islamabad Thursday evening to make final announcement of party candidate for the Prime Minister while Makhdoom Amin Fahim flew to Karachi.

As Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reached Islamabad, Makhdoom Amin Fahim flew to Karachi, which made it clear that meeting between Bilawal Bhutto and Makhdoom Amin Fahim was not expected. Sources indicated that the final announcement of the party candidate would be announced by Saturday or Sunday. Just after reaching Islamabad, he held meeting with top leadership of the party to finalize the candidate for Prime Minister.

Sources hinted that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari would hold a formal meeting with the parliamentarians of the party today (Friday) to seek their point of view on the question of party candidature for the Prime Minister.

As there were four candidates still in the race including Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar but sources said that the real contestants of the race were Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani and Makhdoom Amin Fahim.

Sources in the PPP led quadrangular alliance told The News that PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari also sought the suggestions from PML-N, ANP and JUI-F about the party nominee and most of them favoured Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani as a best choice.

However, hopes of Makhdoom Amin Fahim was being diminished with the election of Dr Fahmida Mirza, who also hails from Sindh. Besides this, Makhdoom Amin Fahim also gets a poor response from within the party. Meanwhile, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will accelerate the final round of discussions with the top leadership of the party to decide the final candidate.

Bilawal, Fahim in cat and mouse game