President Zardari nominates Makhdoom Shahabuddin for premiership

Co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday finalized the name of Makhdoom Shahabuddin as the candidate for the post of premiership.

Former minister for water and power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf will be covering candidate of former health and textile minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin. The interesting thing is that the two candidates had friction with the apex court in the near past.

“President Asif Ali Zardari has nominated Makhdoom Shahabuddin as a candidate for the prime minister,” Pakistan Television (PTV) said.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had ordered legal proceedings against Raja Pervez Ashraf in the rental power plants case while Shahabuddin was allegedly involved in giving approval to the illegal drug quotas that led to the ephedrine scandal.

Makhdoom Shahabuddin will submit his nomination papers before the 2pm deadline on Thursday. Speaker National Assembly will examine the nominations in the presence of the candidates, their proposers and seconders within an hour while the voting for the new leader of the House will take place at 5:30 pm on Friday.

Under the Constitution, only a Muslim member of the National Assembly can contest for the office of prime minister, and has to be elected by a majority of the 342-member lower house of parliament, which comes to 172 votes.

The PPP-led coalition enjoys a comfortable majority to secure the votes for its candidate to get elected.

Speaking in the meeting summoned to finalize the name, the president promised that he would choose a person best suited to the country and to the party. “I will choose the best amongst us … I will never let you down,” he added.

Speaking to former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, President Zardari observed, “You are close to our hearts. You are our lifetime prime minister”.

Gilani, who became prime minister following the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) election win in 2008, was disqualified after being convicted of contempt for refusing to ask Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases against his boss President Zardari.

The upcoming g will immediately face court demands to write to the Swiss, so analysts say Zardari will only countenance a loyalist and someone from Punjab province who can complement his own power base in the south.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=26493

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jun 21 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. 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.