Islamabad, May 8 : The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has reached a compromise regarding ministries in Punjab province, Dawn reported on Sunday. PPP for the moment does not appear to be pushing the PML-N leadership for the governor’s and speaker’s slots, which the latter is keen on keeping for itself and which the PPP had been eyeing earlier. However, reports say that PPP’s Makhdoom Ahmad Mahmood, who had earlier been nominated for the governor’s post by his party, is reportedly upset with the decision. In the first summary Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sent to the president on April 17, recommending the name of Mahmood as the Punjab governor. However, when President Dr Arif Alvi returned that summary after holding it for 15 days without a decision, the premier re-endorsed the advice on Saturday asking for the removal of incumbent governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema, and appoint PML-N loyalist from Bahawalpur, Balighur Rehman. Citing the Constitution, the PML-N says if President Alvi does not act on the premier’s recommendation within 10 days, Rehman will automatically become the governor. “The prime minister has sent a summary to the president recommending my name for the Punjab governor. And hopefully the president will accept the summary,” Rehman, who remained a minister in the Shahid Khaqan Abbasi cabinet said. “Before the allied parties took over the government, the PML-N had agreed to give the slot of the governor to the PPP, but after coming to power it backtracked. The PML-N is known for this kind of politics,” a PPP source said. On Saturday, Opposition Leader in the Senate Yousuf Raza Gilani, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Adviser to the PM Qamar Zaman Kaira and Punjab Assembly parliamentary leader Hasan Murtaza of the PPP called on Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz here and discussed the power-sharing formula in the province, wherein PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari withdrew his party’s earlier claim on the Punjab governorship on the wish of PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif” along with its claim on the Punjab Assembly speaker’s office since the PML-N was not too keen on giving this important office to an ally that had only seven seats in the House. As per the latest understanding between the two parties, the PPP delegation forwarded the names of its three MPAs to CM Hamza for their induction into his cabinet, which is yet to be constituted. The formation of a new provincial cabinet has been delayed till the removal of Governor Cheema after his stated stance that he would not administer the oath to office-bearers in an “illegally constituted government”. The insider said the PPP probables for the cabinet were Hasan Murtaza, Gilani’s son Ali Haider and Makhdoom Usman Mehmood. The party has also suggested the names of Shazia Abid, Ghazanfar Abbas Langa and Raees Nabeel for parliamentary secretaries of various standing committees. PPP Punjab information secretary Shahzad Saeed Cheema could be made adviser to the chief minister, apart from the various positions that the PML-N has promised to give the PPP in Punjab, along with the Senate chairman’s slot in the future.
with uni inputs
