Senate polls: Mohsin Leghari considering independent run

Says he has obtained nomination papers, will consult others.


Abdul Manan February 12, 2012

LAHORE:


Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid member of Punjab Assembly Mohsin Khan Leghari has obtained nomination papers for Senate elections and is considering to contest the election as an independent candidate.


Talking to The Express Tribune, he said he will take a decision after consultation with fellow MPAs.

Citing Article 59 of the Constitution, Leghari said MPAs should exercise their right of vote in Senate elections independently. “Selecting candidates through backchannel negotiations between political parties is not democratic,” he said.

PML-Q has already awarded its ticket for the only Senate seat it is likely to win in the province to Kamil Ali Agha.

Several MPAs see Leghari’s move as an opportunity for members who have been ignored by their parties to extract some favours from the leadership.

Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Dr Muhammad Akhtar Malik said Leghari appeared to have a good chance of winning the election. “Many members have not been very happy with their leaders. They may cast their votes for Leghari instead of the candidates nominated by their parties,” he said.

PML-Q parliamentary leader in the PA Chaudhry Zaheeruddin said he would contact Leghari and request him to respect the party’s decision. Asked if action would be taken against Leghari if he still contested the election, Zaheer declined comment.  He, however, said it was not unusual for some members to oppose party’s nominees in the beginning. Eventually, he said, they end up following the party line.

Some Unification Bloc members are said to be unhappy with the PML-N for being ignored.

Its leader, Dr Tahir Ali Javed, said they had proposed MPA Ejaz Shafi’s name and he was interviewed by the parliamentary board but was not selected.

He said he expected Shafi to respect the decision.

For the seven seats from the province it is likely to get, the PML-N on Sunday announced the names of Sirdar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa, Rafiq Rijwana, Zafarullah Dhandla, M Hamza (on general seats), Ishaq Dar on technocrats’ seat, Kamran Michael (on minorities’ seat) and Nuzhat Amir Sadiq (on women’s seat).

PML-N MPA Advocate Chaudhry Javeed said his party had called a meeting of all MPAs to discuss the election on Monday. He said he would express his reservations over some of the nominations during the meeting.

“Members have a right to inquire about the people who will represent them in the Senate,” he said, “The party leadership has sent some text messages to members asking them to restrain from objecting to the names.”

Sources said that 15 MPAs had so far assured Leghari of their support in case he decided to run as an independent candidate.

The support of at least 47 members is needed to win a Senate seat.

Former National Assembly speaker Hamid Nasir Chattha told The Tribune that his party (PML-Junejo) was not fielding any candidate for the Senate elections.

He said he would consider supporting Leghari if the latter filed his nomination. Chattha said he would support anyone running against the candidates supported by the three major political parties in the PA.

PPP has given its ticket to Barristers Aitzaz Ahsan and Babar Awan, Aslam Gill and Mrs Mohsin Qureshi.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2012.

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