The prospect of becoming a prime minister has filled Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar with joy. Winning the election against PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat was a wonderful boost for the party's and his morale.
Notwithstanding a setback to his overt ambitions in relation to prime ministership following reports that Makhdoom Amin Fahim was again in the spotlight, the possibility that something great will happen in his way was always there.
A new development seems to have helped him knock out his three colleagues, including Makhdoom Amin Fahim, from this race ahead of the inaugural session of new parliament in the next two weeks.
Some well-placed party and government sources told Business Recorder on Friday that PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari had been communicated by a strong section of the establishment that his preference for someone from not only Punjab but from the central and northern parts of the province would help both the Presidency and the coalition set-up make at least a healthy beginning, if not a long-term cordial relationship.
"Such a proposition, or an idea which is suggested is going to serve both Pervez Musharraf and Asif Ali Zardari in an effective and meaningful manner," the sources said, explaining that this would help the President create a new network of contacts through a prime minister from the Punjab to the chagrin of a "strong headed" duo of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif brothers who have done remarkably well in the February 18 elections.
Not only will it help Asif Zardari ensure the presence of federal government in this province in a visible and effective way, but it will enable him pre-empt a situation the late Benazir Bhutto unsuccessfully encountered during her first term when then Punjab Chief Minister Nawaz Sharif had effectively challenged, if not eroded, the writ of Islamabad in his province.
"The most likely scenario shows that the new prime minister would be heading to his hometown Gujarat every weekend and the administration's paraphernalia, which would go alongside with him would effectively send the strong message across that it is not only the Sharifs who are calling the shots in the Punjab," the sources said, pointing out that being a prime minister from Sindh had not helped Benazir Bhutto consolidate her party's organisational network in the Punjab being ruled by an adversary.
The sources further said, although there is a vast difference between the nature of relationship between PPP and PML of Nawaz Sharif this time around as compared to the late 1980s and 1990s, the party now headed by Asif Zardari cannot take risks in relation to a province which first catapulted party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto into power.
A jail companion and a former PPP federal minister Chaudhry Mukhtar has been a close confidant of Asif Zardari for more than a decade, the sources said and added that it was particularly his contest in Gujarat where Mr Zardari had made some personal efforts to ensure his victory that came mainly due to withdrawal of PML-N candidate in his support.
"Although Mr Zardari was in favour of someone from Punjab particularly Chaudhry Mukhtar, he did not express his views openly for this wouldn't have augured well for the party at that point in time," the sources said and added that Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who would have been a natural choice if someone from Sindh was to be chosen for this post, had found his support mainly among CEC members from Sindh.
It was a Karachi-based PPP central executive committee member who spilled the beans with regard to Mr Zardari's thinking, the sources said and added that the number of those following in the footsteps of Mr Zardari rose to a new high when a "whispering campaign" floated the names of two more potential contenders of prime ministerial slot-Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani and Punjab PPP president Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
According to the sources, the real contest was between Makhdoom Amin and Chaudhry Mukhtar and the two politicians of southern Punjab were hardly in the fray mainly due to the fact that their areas and Sindh are contiguous. Their names had been floated with a view to drastically curtailing whatever support Makhdoom Amin Fahim could have mustered for himself from this part of Punjab.
Asked whether the exit of Makhdoom Amin Fahim from this race would lead to cause resentment among the party cadres in Sindh, the sources replied that the "top leadership" was fully prepared for such an eventuality. But, the situation would be overcome through a well worked-out strategy.
"The air will be so still as there will hardly be a ripple on the surface of Sindh," the sources said, adding, "Though the role of Makhdoom Amin Fahim is yet to be redefined, Sindh MNAs are set to get a highly satisfactory share in the pie of the federal cabinet. "Sindh might be followed by southern Punjab in terms of allocation of Cabinet portfolios."
Moreover, the sources added, the rounds of discussion that would continue at divisional levels of party organisation in the next few days as a follow-up of Thursday's Islamabad meeting were expected to reach close to a consensus on the choice of the leader of the house.
"The outcome of such discussions are going to be in accordance with the guiding principles with regard to capacity and capabilities of a prime minister as enunciated by those who are very close to Mr Zardari," the sources said.
"We have not decided the nomination as yet," a senior PPP CEC member said in reply to a question soon after the last a Thursday meeting. Requesting not to be identified, he, however, strongly indicated that he would be supporting anyone who was first supported by the co-chairman.