Pakistan People Party sources said on Saturday that Makhdoom Amin Fahim, a possible candidate to be nominated as leader of the house in the National Assembly, might be replaced by PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.
They said that Zardari had been asked to contest election from NA-207, Larkana-Shikarpur-Kambar-Shahdadkot, from where Benazir Bhutto had filed her nominations.
They said that whosoever was chosen to become prime minister, at this stage, would have to make room for Zardari, if he won bye-election. In their opinion, the PPP co-chairman will have to be in control of two things: party co-chairmanship as well as the executive authority of the country. The coupling of the two positions and placing under control of one man would be in greater interest of the party, they said.
They said that the proposal to nominate Zardari as the leader of the house had been discussed in several meetings in Islamabad and his colleagues had pressed upon him the necessity of conceding to their desire.
Though Zardari has repeatedly said that he would not contest election, and he was not interested in becoming prime minister, the political expediency calls for review of his earlier statements. They said those moments that shaped history of a country and that of a man did not "knock at your doors all the time". This element of temptation was also there for all the aspirants, from Sindh and Multan, they added.
Sources said that the Pakistan Muslim League (N) had already nominated Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif as their leaders in the National Assembly and the Punjab assembly to protect their party interest. Similarly, in the greater interest of the party, Zardari would have to assume power to keep the party from going astray.