Pakistan Peoples Party meeting in Islamabad under the party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has reportedly agreed on nominating Nisar Ahmed Khuhro for the Sindh chief minister slot, it was learnt on Friday.
Sources said that Agha Siraj Durrani and Manzoor Hussain Wassan were also trailing behind Khuhro as some of the party leaders wanted a 'tough man' to deal with those who had remained rigidly opposed to PPP interest in Sindh. In this category Manzoor Hussain Wasan and Agha Siraj Durrani have a reputation of being tough on their opponents. They have a leaning toward nationalist parties of Sindh as well.
Those leaders who are described as 'middle of the road men' include former Sindh law and parliamentary affairs minister Pir Mazharul Huq and former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah. They have also been tipped for the chief minister's slot.
But these five MPAs can get the CM slot only if Amin Fahim is not nominated as the Leader of the House. In case otherwise, his son Makhdoom Jamiluzzaman will surpass all these leaders and will be elected as the Leader of the House in the Sindh Assembly.
They said that Khuhro is yet to face his party diehards in the late Saturday afternoon meeting or early Sunday meeting in Islamabad. This meeting would finally affirm nominations for the Leader of the House in the National Assembly and in the Sindh Assembly.
Sources said that clan and cast sensibilities would be taken into consideration for nominations as two men of equal status in a village or town would not like to be ranked according to their official status in their own town.
Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Pir Mazharul Huq and Syed Qaim Ali Shah, among others, are less controversial and less class conscious and therefore selection as chief minister from among them will be less problematic for the party.
Two names, Hussain Haroon as the next governor of Sindh and Pir Mazharul Huq as Sindh Assembly speaker are also in circulation. Both have close relations with top party leaders and are, to a great extent, acceptable to many others.
Sources said that the party would like to take on board MQM as one of the effective partners in the formation of the government. Though there is strong opposition to this opinion from PML (N) and reactionaries of the PPP, but the moderates in the PPP favours MQM's inclusion.
It is learnt that PML (N) that has extended its support to PPP in the formation of the government at the centre, but at the same time it has expressed it reservations on the inclusion of the MQM in the federal cabinet. Based on the same principle, PML (N) is opposed to the idea of asking for support from the MQM in the future cabinet composition in Sindh.
However, MQM has not shown any interest in the formation of government in Sindh. The MQM leaders prefer to sit on the opposition benches rather than becoming a party to a government which is not prepared to respect the mandate of the people 20 MNAs and 38 MPAs carry.