Asif Zardari has finally put his cards on the table to tell a "hostile" Makhdoom Amin Fahim that the latter should no longer nurse his ambitions to become prime minister, as whosoever is nominated by him would be in the prime minister's house just warming the seat for him for only three months, a proposition which would never be acceptable to the Makhdoom of Hala, himself a candidate for the post of prime minister.
According to well-placed party and government sources, the PPP Co-chairman, Asif Zardari, who has been holding all the cards in order to be able to control a particular situation because he has an advantage over other people, has played his cards right by dealing successfully so that he could achieve some advantage that he wanted.
"The arrival of Bilawal along with the late Benazir Bhutto's sister Sanam at this point in time clearly demonstrates that Zardari was finding it extremely difficult to successfully persuade the Makhdoom of Hala about his ambitions," the sources said and added that at no meeting with Makhdoom did the PPP Co-chairman express his desire of becoming prime minister.
The sources said since Makhdoom had called Zardari's bluff, he immediately announced that he would wholeheartedly support the candidature of Zardari for this post, knowing well that the latter will never be able to gather moral courage to offer himself for this slot for the two broad reasons.
First, not all among the senior party leadership were willing to buy the story with regard to the late Benazir's will and her desire that Zardari would be taking control of the party, but they had to go with the prevailing sentiment for obvious reasons. Second, the sources said, Zardari had perhaps committed a Himalayan blunder by declaring at Naudero that the party's next prime minister will be no one else but Makhdoom Amin Fahim.
"There is no denying the fact that Zardari had realised that he lacked some sort of legitimacy that he desperately required in many respects. That is why he added Bhutto to the names of his three children," the sources said and added that it was in that background that Sanam Bhutto had flanked Bilawal in his London press conference and she was again accompanying him to enable Zardari to ask his son to announce the name of the candidate in her presence to allay expected resentment or even a bloody backlash that he could possibly encounter in Sindh by virtually putting Makhdoom Fahim out of business.
"Bilawal and Sanam have been brought in to make it clear to people that Makhdoom Sahib was not listening to him or the party and now he was not listening even to Bhuttos," the sources said.
The sources said though Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani had topped the list of candidates, Zardari's sister Azra Pechcheo could also be nominated for the slot should her brother decide to go for an interim arrangement. Such a proposition may not be acceptable to Gilani for he is also considered a "heavyweight" in the party hierarchy, according to sources.
As was widely anticipated, Zardari, with the help of his coalition partners, particularly Nawaz Sharif, managed to send the message across that they demonstrated through the election of Speaker that they had reached the magical figure of two-thirds majority since the first female speaker in the history of the country had also obtained votes from the opposition side (Business Recorder predicted in its March 19 issue that `Looking forward, coalition hopes to get 20 extra votes').
"This move has paid the coalition some handsome dividends. They had a smooth sailing in today's elections. They could have lost a number of their own MNAs votes had they announced the name of a candidate for the prime ministership, as bickering within the party might have attained an alarming level," the sources said and added that Makhdoom had been left with no choice but to be resigned to his fate.
"Though Makhdoom appeared quite confident, he was a forlorn and dejected man in his heart as news had reached him in the Parliament about Bilawal's and Sanam's arrival at Karachi's international airport," the sources said and added that Makhdoom in his speech "criticised" Zardari by saying that the latter was a friend of friends and by strongly hinting that Dr Fahimda Mirza owed her elevation to the office of National Assembly Speaker to her husband's friend.
According to sources, the announcement about the nomination of a candidate is no longer a greater issue, but the convening of Sindh Assembly's inaugural session is equally, if not more important, to the coalition as Makdhoom Amin is said to be still keeping his cards close to his chest.
PML-N's Nawaz is also faced with a similar predicament in Punjab where he could also face a "rebellion" like Asif would be possibly encountering in Sindh if they announced the names of chief minister and prime minister before the sessions of the provincial assemblies are summoned.
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