Khursheed Shah meets leaders to field consensus candidate against PML-N's nominee

Leader of the opposition in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah has made contacts with leaders of opposition parties to field a consensus candidate for the office of the Prime Minister. According to details, the opposition leader, who spends his week ends in his constituency in Sukkur stayed in Islamabad on Saturday on the instruction of party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to get the opposition parties agree on a consensus candidate.
Khursheed met Shah Mahmood Qureshi of PTI, Qaumi Watan Party chief Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and PML-Q senior leader Chaudhry Pervez Elahi and discussed the proposal. Sources said that the PPP is expected to name its candidate for the slot of Prime Minister as it has the maximum number of members in the National Assembly. However parliamentary observers emphasised that even a consensus candidate of the opposition is unlikely to be elected as Prime Minister because the PML-N alone enjoys simple majority in the lower house. In this situation, the PPP is likely to name a junior leader just to remain in the field and not give a free hand to PML-N for unopposed election of its candidate as Prime Minister.