PML-N may field Rana Iqbal as speaker

Since PTI had the support of the PML-Q and independently-elected MPAs, it had the upper hand


Rameez Khan August 04, 2018
PML-N had not yet finalized the name of its nominee for the post of the Chief Minister Punjab. PHOTO:FILE

LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is likely to retain Rana Muhammad Iqbal as its nominee for the post of the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Senator Mushahidullah Khan said on Friday.

Iqbal had served as the speaker in the previous provincial assembly.

He, however, said that PML-N had not yet finalized the name of its nominee for the post of the Chief Minister Punjab.

Discussions, he said, were still under way and the party would soon announce the name of the finalist.

Elaborating upon PML-N’s party position in the Punjab Assembly, he said that the party had a fighting chance, adding that it had the support of a large number of independently-elected MPAs.

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He declined to disclose names of independent lawmakers who had assured about voting for the PML-N.

The moment any such MPA was identified, he started getting threatening calls from unknown numbers, Mushahidullah Khan said.

Other senior party leaders agreed that although the party might not be able to get its chief minister elected, but the post of the speaker of the assembly was a viable possibility.

According to them, all independently-elected lawmakers had pledged under oath to vote for the PTI candidate for the post of the chief minister.

But, they said, none of them had given any assurances about voting for the slot of the speaker of the provincial assembly.

In the National Assembly, the chances of Khursheed Shahd becoming the speaker were very bright.

PML-N, they said, was aware of its handicaps, adding that PPP’s co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari had no such handicap and was an expert in striking deals.

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Interestingly, there is a possibility that former federal railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique could be fielded for the position of the chief minister of the Punjab.

Rafique had lost his NA seat but won a provincial assembly seat.

Terming his candidacy a reasonable one, sources said that this reasoning was especially valid in view of the PMLN’s weak position despite winning a majority.

They said that if the PML-N had a comfortable lead then Hamza Shehbaz would have been an obvious choice.

Since PTI had the support of the PML-Q and independently-elected MPAs, it had the upper hand.

Hamza, they said, would not risk his National Assembly seat for a post he was highly likely to lose.

PML-N, it is learnt, was not making any serious attempt to secure the post of the CM Punjab.

Sources said that some leaders were trying to keep the party safe from fragmentation but internally, the PML-N was in disarray.

They said that the party lacked leadership and direction, especially in Punjab.

Even in the National Assembly, the PML-N was trying to piggyback the PPP, sources maintained. This, they agreed, would adversely affect its vote bank.

Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan has already held this office twice: once in 2008 and later in 2013.

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