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Monday, March 03, 2008

PPP likely to name PM on 6th

* Mukhtar, Qureshi and Gillani in the race
* PPP CEC okays parliamentary leaders in National Assembly, provincial assemblies
* Zardari off to Dubai to see children for a day

By Zulfiqar Ghuman

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is likely to name the country’s next prime minister in its National Assembly parliamentary party meeting on Thursday (March 6). PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has convened the meeting here at Zardari House to be attended by party MNAs-elect including those elected on seats reserved for women and religious minorities. A PPP leader told Daily Times that the meeting was likely to endorse the PPP Central Executive Committee’s (CEC) nominee for the PM’s office before its formal declaration. In race: There are formally four names, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Yousaf Raza Gillani and Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, under the PPP’s consideration for the head of next government. The PPP leader said the meeting was important as the government was expected to announce the date of NA session by March 6, necessitating nomination for the new PM. He said Amin Fahim was no longer the front-runner among the four prime ministerial hopefuls for various reasons. So he said one of the three Punjabi candidates would likely be nominated. Only Gillani, who is the PPP Vice Chairman, has denied being an aspirant to the PM office. Qureshi and Mukhtar say they’ll accept the party’s decision if they’re named for the slot. Finalised: Sources said that the PPP CEC had finalised the names of its parliamentary leaders in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies. The names will however be made public at an appropriate time after consultations with allied political parties. To Dubai: Asif Zardari left Islamabad for Dubai Sunday morning to meet his children. He will return to Islamabad on Monday. Meanwhile, an independent member of Punjab Assembly Rauf Khalid, who was elected from PP-284, Bhawalnagar, announced to join the PPP during a meeting with Asif Zardari.
Courtesy Daily Times

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