Who deals with the real heat and dust of general elections?

Govt had clearly admitted an acute “foreign pressure” for the selection of an economist as the interim prime minister.

ISLAMABAD:

A truckload of members from all sides of the house went on and on making farewell speeches during the last sitting of the outgoing National Assembly Thursday. Not one of them, including an otherwise articulate Maulana Fazlur Rehman, made any point that I would care to quote or remember. Be that as it may, hardcore reporters still wanted to find out the latest on different issues confronting Pakistan.

The government has finally revealed its choices for the caretaker prime minister through a prime ministerial letter to the opposition leader. Dr Hafeez Sheikh and Ishrat Hussein, two economic managers that the World Bank and IMF, etc, feel comfortable in dealing with, are present on that list. Naming these names, the government had clearly admitted an acute “foreign pressure” for the selection of an economist as the interim prime minister.

Yet many PPP members were strongly hoping for the appointment of Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, a retired judge from Balochistan. More than a score of them confessed to me in separate meetings that powerful lobbies from Washington and Rawalpindi were only supporting Hafeez Sheikh.

The foreign and interior ministers have also been “selected by them, already”.

If appointed, Sheikh would retain the portfolio of finance as well while things will probably be the same in case of Ishrat Hussein’s selection. An editor with nine years of ambassadorial experience in two important countries surfaced as a hot favorite for heading the foreign ministry. The interior appears as if “certainly” going to a retired general. As a former head of both the ISI and the MI, he is considered fit to ensure relatively smooth sailings during campaigning for the next election.

Seasoned players of the power scene from all the major parties, however, feel strongly that selection of the above-explained trio will instantly send a clear message that elections, somehow, would not be held on time. To offset their insecurity, these politicians were desperately trying to get Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to say yes to Khoso’s appointment.

My sources, however, claimed that a big tycoon connected with banking and cement manufacturing had established SOS contacts with Nawaz Sharif to persuade him for the selection of Ishrat Hussein. No one from the PML-N is even willing to discuss the name of Dr Hafeez Sheikh and probably the president feels the same way from his heart of hearts.

I was astonished to notice that while eagerly searching for the name of caretaker prime minister, reporters were paying no attention to the question of caretaker setups in the provinces. We seem oblivious of the reality that the judicial, police and administrative officers, posted in our districts, deal with the real heat and dust of general elections. They seek guidance from their chief secretaries and journalists should have closely monitored developments on that front.

Similarly, stories that are far more interesting relate to the last-minute switching of political parties by some leading players of the electoral battles. As predicted in this column, Sheikh Waqas formally joined the PML-N on Thursday. The Sharifs need him desperately to refute the image of being friendly with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. In the same context, their hard focus has now shifted to a vocal PPP MNA from the area that connects Sargodha via Mandi Bahauddin with Gujrat. From Okara, the PML-N seems somewhat keen to allure a blunt scion of an important shrine. The PPP does not seem confident of generating stunning stories in this context.

At least four leading ‘electable’ types from the PTI are also getting confused. Awais Leghari may contest the next election as an independent, although his senator brother Jamal is dying to join the PML-N. The Bosans of Multan are keenly awaiting the impact of Imran Khan’s public rally in Lahore on March 23 to announce their final decision.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi seems lost in the wilderness and neither do things appear rosy and comfortable for Javed Hashmi. Both cannot ditch the PTI at this stage, but the mood in their home constituencies does not promise much for them.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2013.