Comment: List of choices for interim PM

One must not forget that President Zardari could propose his choice through PM, which might prove difficult to reject.

In a country where people such as Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim can become controversial despite being a unanimous choice as chief election commissioner, lesser mortals hardly stand a chance when it comes to high office.

In the next few weeks though, the government and opposition must agree on one name for the interim prime minister, who will see the country into the elections. Opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has a list of people with unblemished careers: Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid, Asma Jahangir, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Sardar Attaullah Mengal, Justice Ajmal Mian. However, a campaign has already been launched against Asma Jahangir. Indeed, there is no guarantee any of them will accept. Achakzai doesn’t appear terribly excited about the proposal but he could accept if there was unanimity.

The government has not proposed any names so far but the PM is expected to share a list with Nisar in his first ever meeting on the interim set-up, which is likely to take place in the second or third week of February. And one must not forget that President Asif Ali Zardari, ever full of surprises, could propose his choice through the PM, which might prove difficult to reject. It could be a veteran politician from the smaller provinces, a former army chief, a seasoned bureaucrat, an economist, an educationist...

Had the late Qazi Hussain Ahmad and the late Prof. Ghafoor Ahmad been here today, their names would have been on my list. They were senior leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami but have taken different approaches from the party based on principle.

Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, Abid Hasan Manto and the young but upright lawyer Salman Akram Raja qualify because of their track records. Raja has emerged as one of the best and outspoken legal practitioners in the country - with lots of energy and authority to match.

Nisar’s choice of Nasir Aslam Zahid is not a bad one. He is known for his integrity, both as a judge and rights activist. Though many people did not agree with the findings of the commission he headed on the Murtaza Bhutto murder, it is worth mentioning that the report had mentioned its suspicion of a “hidden hand”.

Pirzada, one of the architects of the 1973 Constitution, has had his share of practical politics for two decades. He is also the last surviving member of the historic PPP-Pakistan National Alliance accord of 1977.

Abid Hasan Manto, the former Supreme Court Bar Association president, could also be a good choice, given his standing, depth in political affairs and character. Though he belongs to Punjab and lives in Lahore, he has lot of currency among nationalists countrywide.

Not many people in Pakistan are considered an institution in their own right but Adibul Hasan Rizvi, the founder of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, is one. He led the first student movement in 1953 and knows the ins and outs of politics more than many parliamentarians. Today he is doing a job which should have been done by the State, as is social worker Abdus Sattar Edhi.

Edhi would have been a much better choice in the 1980s but perhaps not today as he is 90 years old. It is ironic that he was rejected in the elections in the 1970s.

From the economists choices are limited but I would prefer former State Bank governor Dr Ishrat Husain and former finance minister Shaukat Tarin. Tarin’s name could have been on the list except for the Rental Power Plant case even though he denied playing any part in it.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2013.