Jhagra to step into Mehtab’s shoes in K-P

PESHAWAR/ ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif advised President Mamnoon Hussain on Wednesday to appoint Senator Iqbal Zafar Jhagra as governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

A summary for the appointment of Jhagra has been sent to the president, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister House. Once the president approves his appointment, Jhagra will have to relinquish his Senate seat to take over as K-P’s governor.

Jhagra’s nomination has come as a surprise to PML-N’s provincial leadership, according to party insiders. There had been much speculation over the past few weeks about who would fill the post vacated voluntarily by Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, but observers did not see Jhagra as a frontrunner for the coveted slot.

“It is indeed a surprise,” said Rehmat Salaam Khattak, the general secretary of PML-N’s K-P chapter. “We expected the role to be assigned to the party’s provincial chief, Pir Sabir Shah,” he told The Express Tribune.

However, Khattak added the party’s central leadership “must have had brainstorming” before nominating Jhagra. He pointed out that Sabir Shah held no portfolio while Jhagra was already a senator. “Jhagra is a genuine political worker.”

For the past few years, the PML-N in K-P has been divided in two factions – both vying for power in the province. Prime minister’s adviser Amir Muqam is leading one faction while Sabir Shah leads the other.

According to a PML-N insider, Jhagra and Muqam met a week ago to discuss ‘certain issues’. He did not give details.

Others in the party hope the new governor would plug the gaps in leadership within K-P’s political circles. “We are lucky that we got rid of Mehtab Khan, and we hope Jhagra will bring all party workers who feel neglected [by the Centre] together,” PML-N’s provincial senior vice president Waqif Khan told The Express Tribune.


Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2016.