Babar Awan fails to in as Maula Bakhsh Chandio refuses to out

A high-profile drama was observed on Tuesday when Pakistan had a law minister in the morning; none in the afternoon; a new one picked-up for the evening; and the old one refuse to go at night.

Earlier, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Khurshid Shah said the government had decided to replace Maula Bakhsh Chandio with Senator Babar Awan as federal minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs.

No PPP leader or spokesperson confirmed or denied Shah’s statement. Later, Leader of the House in Senate, Nayyer Hussain Bokhari, stated that Maula Bux Chandio had tendered his resignation.

Bokhari asked the Senate chairman to defer the presentation due to the minister’s resignation as Chandio was supposed to introduce the Constitutional amendment (20th Amendment) Bill, 2012.

Sitting next to Nayyer Bokhari, Chandio did not reject or confirm the assertion, and the bill was deferred by Chairman Senate Farooq H Naek.

Later, Maula Bakhsh Chandio, who had last year taken the portfolio in place of Babar Awan, denied reports of his resignation, saying he would not hesitate to submit his resignation if asked by the party heads.

He observed while speaking to media outside Parliament House, “Neither have I submitted resignation nor am I directed to do so.”

According to the media reports, the decision for Awan’s reappointment as the law minister was taken in a meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and Babar Awan at the President’s House. The reports also claimed that Chandio was also present during the meeting.

Showing unawareness to the entire development, PPP Spokesperson Qamar Zamam Kaira had said the replacement was possible if Khurshid Shah has announced it.

Earlier, during the meeting with the president, Awan and Chandio discussed the situation aroused by the apex court’s decision to suspend Awan’s license for law practice over his derogatory remarks about the superior judiciary. Awan was counseling President Asif Ali Zardari in Zulfikar Ali Bhutto reference case.

An 11-member bench, with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in the chair, said ZAB reference case would remain suspended unless the federation appoints a new lawyer.

Babar Awan was law minister until last year, when he had resigned to contest ZAB reference case in the Supreme Court.

Analysts say the party decided not to reappoint Babar Awan as law minister as it could further defiance its stance before the apex court.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jan 18 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Politics, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.