Former Prime Minister and Quaid of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Nawaz Sharif Thursday said that his party has nominated Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) Raza Rabbani as candidate for the slot of chairman Senate to curb horse-trading. Talking to reporters after appearing before the Accountability Court, he said someone who has 100 percent commitment to Constitution and does not have anti-democracy credentials should be the chairman of Senate.
He said he personally wants to see PPP leader Raza Rabbani as the next chairman. The PML-N and its allies agree on Rabbani's name, he added. The former prime minister said that there is no point for nomination of a person for seat who is compromised. "If PPP does not want to field Rabbani for the slot of chairman Senate then we will identify someone like him in our own party," he added.
He termed the ongoing corruption cases against him a part of a grand conspiracy. Earlier, while speaking to the media persons, Federal Minister Daniyal Aziz claimed that the joint investigation team (JIT) report had misled the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Thursday claimed to have acquired the support of senators required to elect its own chairman and deputy chairman Senate amid intensified efforts launched by the opposition parties to muster support for their nominees. Senior PML-N leaders held a consultative meeting with the party Quaid and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in which the report of the efforts to muster support of the maximum senators for March 12 election of the chairman and deputy chairman Senate was shared with the participants.
Party sources said that the report was presented by the committee tasked by Nawaz Sharif to reach out to the opposition parties as well the smaller parties in the Senate to get their support for the party's candidates. The committee members including Khawaja Saad Rafique, Mushahidullah Khan, Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq and Musahid Hussain Sayed in their report presented before the meeting claimed that the party has gained support of the 54 senators, enough to elect their own nominees for the top Senate slots.
It was also claimed that Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) which has a total of five seats and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) with four senators and other smaller allied parties have assured their support to the PML-N. Addressing the meeting, Nawaz Sharif lamented PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari's rejection to his earlier proposal to nominate PPP's Raza Rabbani as consensus candidate for the office of the chairman Senate.
He said that the party wants to nominate such a person to the top Senate slot which could lead to strengthening of the democracy and supremacy of the Parliament.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Khawaja Saad Rafiq said that the party has not yet nominated any candidates for the slots of the chairman and deputy chairman, adding that the nominees would be announced after consultations with coalition partners.
He said that a committee led by Raja Zafar-ul-Haq has been constituted which would remain in touch with all the coalition partners for the purpose.
He further said that PML-N team comprising Mushahidullah Khan and Governor Sindh Mohammad Zubair along with other senior leaders would visit Karachi today (Friday) to hold talks with the leaders of MQM-P as well as Pir Pagara of PML-F. Lamenting on Zardari's rejection of Rabbani's nomination, Rafiq said that Nawaz Sharif had "sincerely" proposed Rabbani for the office of the chairman Senate because he [Rabbani] believes in democracy and has immense contribution to democratic process in the country.
He also stated that the process adopted for the Senate election needs to be changed especially after the reports of the horse-trading, adding that it needs to approach the political party for support instead of contacting individuals.
Mushahidullah Khan also claimed that the PML-N has acquired support of more than required number of senators to elect its own chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate, adding that the situation would become further clear in coming two days. A delegation of the PML-N also met Senator Hasil Khan Bizenjo, leader of National Party, a coalition partner, and invited him to attend the party meeting scheduled to be held on Saturday.
On the other hand, opposition parties especially PPP, which has 20 seats in the Upper House, is also engaged in intense lobbying with different opposition political parties and the independents to elect a unanimous candidate of the opposition. According to the sources, the PPP is also engaged in backdoor dialogues with the PTI for consensus candidates. However, PTI has conveyed to the PPP that party chairman Imran Khan wants that anybody from Balochistan should be appointed at the top Senate slot.
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