PPP unwilling to support ‘inexperienced’ Balochistan candidates for Senate chairman

PTI throws its weight behind Bizenjo-led independents; PML-N claims support of 57 Senators in 104-member House

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf  (PTI) throws its weight behind independents from Balochistan, but the main opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is unwilling to support “inexperienced” parliamentarians for the top Senate positions.

Sources privy to a late-night huddle of the PPP say that most of the senior party leaders advise their top leadership to field an “experienced” senator from the party for the office of the Senate chairman instead of supporting any “inexperienced” candidates.

“The office of the Senate chairman demands some experienced person to run the house. We will have another huddle tomorrow [today] and announce our decision,” a senior PPP leader told The Express Tribune.

This implies that the PPP might not support any of the candidates being nominated by Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo from among the six independents elected from his province in the March 3 elections.



All of the six are elected for the first time to the Senate. Bizenjo has proposed the names of Anwarul Haq Kakar and Sadiq Sanjrani to the PTI. On Friday, the PTI refused categorically to vote for any candidate from the PPP, however, the party appeared to soften its stance.

The PTI said on Saturday it was ready to vote for a panel nominated by Chief Minister Bizenjo, which could have a PPP candidate for deputy chairmanship. PTI chief Imran Khan said that Chief Minister Bizenjo had sought the PTI’s support for the whole panel.

The Balochistan independent senators, led by Bizenjo, have held several rounds of talks with the top leaders the PPP and the PTI in the past two days. On Saturday, Bizenjo also met Imran at the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa House. K-P Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak and PTI senators were also present.

At a press conference after the meeting, Imran avoided a direct answer when he was asked about his support for a PPP candidate for Senate deputy chairmanship.

“The CM has requested us to support the whole panel [the chairman and deputy chairman],” Imran told reporters. “We have been assured that Senate chairman will be nominated from among the six independent senators from Balochistan.”

However, about an hour later, the party’s central media department released a statement saying, “PTI will support any name for the slot of deputy chairman that the Balochistan CM will suggest, including a nominee of the PPP or any other political party.”

Khan said his party wanted to give representation to the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) by electing a deputy chairman from there “but now the CM Balochistan had requested us to develop a greater consensus [and the] PTI should support anyone he [Bizenjo] would suggest”.

He congratulated Bizenjo for setting a new precedence. “It will be for first time in [our] parliamentary history that Senate chairman will be elected from the most-deprived province of Pakistan i.e. Balochistan,” he said, adding that his party would vote for Bizenjo’s panel.

At the press conference, Bizenjo announced that the PPP “has accepted our demand” that next Senate chairman would be from Balochistan. He thanked both the PTI and the PPP for their support, particularly the PTI chief for extending him the support of all 13 PTI senators.

“Credit goes to Imran Khan. After the mandate of 13 PTI senators bestowed on me by Imran Khan, we are in a position to properly negotiate with other political parties, including the PPP,” the Balochistan CM told reporters.

He appreciated the sacrifice rendered by the PPP for Balochistan and for giving him the support of 20 party senators. “I request the PTI that I will announce a panel of chairman and deputy chairman, and the PTI should vote for the whole panel,” he added.

Bizenjo expressed the hope that other parties would also welcome his decision and “support our panel, especially the ones having representation in Balochistan”, including the National Party, the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), the Jamiat Ulem-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and others.

PPP still in the race

The PPP has not publically given any hint so far that it would support the Bizenjo-led group’s candidates. According to sources, former president Asif Ali Zardari is still trying to play his cards to secure the top slot.

The PPP had a marathon meeting of its senior leadership. The party leaders insist they will be successful in getting the office of chairman. Some of them have even suggested Zardari to review his decision of not fielding the outgoing chairman, Raza Rabbani.

Zardari’s sarcastic reaction to PML-N’s suggestion for re-election of Rabbani has incensed the outgoing chairman, who on Friday had even dropped some hint that he might not take oath as Senator on March 12.

Zardari heads the PPP-Parliamentarians, which is represented in parliament, while Bilawal Bhutto Zardari heads the PPP. Bilawal, who is reportedly instrumental in the award of ticket to Rabbani, first sent Syed Naveed Qamar to assuage Rabbani and later visited him at his residence on Friday.

After the meeting, the media wing of the PPP issued a statement, saying that Rabbani has agreed to work in any capacity the party would require of him.

PPP sources have said that Rabbani’s nomination cannot by ruled out, but other seasoned parliamentarians of the party could be the contenders for Senate chairmanship. Names of Saleem Mandwiwala, Sherry Rehman and Farooq H Naek have come under discussion several times, claim the sources.

After Saturday night’s development, where the PPP seems unwilling to support the newly-elected independents from Balochistan on the pretext of their inexperience, now there are three main different groups in the race.

They are the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and its allies, the PPP and the independents from Balochistan along with the PTI. The Bahadurbad faction of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) is another group.

The MQM-P claims that all the senators of the party belong to it. It wants to field Senator Barrister Farogh Naseem for the office of chairman. In case the MQM-P fields its own candidate, it would further divide the opposition votes.



PML-N claims support of 57

After a meeting of the PML-N and its allies with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Senator Mushahid Ullah Khan said the party would announce its own candidates today (Sunday). He claimed support from 57 senators – four more than the 53 needed to elect the chairman.

PTI leaders visit MQM-P

A PTI delegation led by Dr Arif Alvi on Saturday met MQM-P leaders in Bahadurabad and sought support in election of Senate chairman and deputy chairman. The meeting of the PTI leaders came after the PPP and the PML-N leaders visit to the MQM-P’s Bahadurabad offices.

Talking to the media after the meeting, Alvi criticised the political parties for promoting horse-trading in the Senate election.

“Unfortunately, some people have bribed the lawmakers which is not a good omen,” he alleged. “This [trend] must be discouraged in upcoming general elections.”

Flanked by Imran Ismail and Haleem Adil Shaikh at his media talk, Alvi said Imran wanted senate chairman and his deputy from smaller provinces. “We floated an idea with the MQM to support chairman senate and deputy chairman from Balochistan and Fata respectively,” he added.

According to Alvi, the MQM has suggested the name of Barrister Farogh Naseem for the chairman and the PTI will also think on it.

He rejected reports that the PTI supported the PPP candidates in the Senate election in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and other provinces.

“We have never ever supported the PPP, and today, once again, I reiterate the party policy of not to support the PPP and the PML-N candidates for senate chairman,” he said.

When asked if the PTI would visit Farooq Sattar-led group in the PIB, he said, “There is no need to visit the PIB, because all the five senators belonged to Bahadurabad. That is why we have come here,” he said.

Kanwar Naveed Jameel of the MQM-P said that the PTI formula to support smaller provinces suited Sindh. “Sindh and its capital Karachi are deprived of facilities. We have also asked the PTI leaders to support our candidate Barrister Farogh Nasim, who can be our candidate for Senate chairman,” he said.

He added that all the decisions in the MQM- P were taken through consultation and the Coordination Committee of the party was the final authority. “Most of our members have gone to Islamabad and after Coordination Committee meeting we will announce our decision,” he said.

 

With additional input from Hafeez Tunio from Karachi