Raja Pervez Ashraf to be next Prime Minister of Pakistan

At long last, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) after consultation with coalition partners on Friday announced to nominate Raja Pervez Ashraf as its candidate for the slot of premiership.

While addressing a much-awaited press conference, Syed Khurshid Shah announced that Raja Pervez Ashraf, the former minister for water and power will be the unanimous candidate of allied parties for slot of the leader of the house.

He observed, “The final decision was taken in collaboration with our coalition partners. Allies are united for supremacy of parliament and democracy”.

Khurshid Shah was flanked by representative of coalition parties including Haider Abbas Rizvi of MQM, Afrasiyab Khatak of ANP and Shaukatullah from FATA.

The PPP leader said media was speculating following the Supreme Court order that the PPP won’t accept its orders but they avoided the confrontation for the sake of system.

He noted, “We do not want any rift between the institutions because that has a negative impact on the country”. Replying to a query, he said they do not want to discuss any controversial topics like the Arsalan Iftikhar case right now.

It is vital to mention here that Raja Pervez Ashraf has been elected twice from NA-51, Gujjar Khan.

He was appointed federal minister for water and power after the 2008 elections and was again appointed a minister in the recently-dissolved cabinet.

The upcoming premier has faced severe corruption allegations for receiving kickbacks in Rental Power Projects (RPPs) and buying properties in London.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed NAB (National Accountability Bureau) to take action against Ashraf for his alleged involvement in the power projects.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Thursday strongly opposed nominating Raja Pervez Ashraf, threatening to vote for other candidates if the PPP didn’t withdraw his name. However, the PPP succeeded to convince it on the name of Raja Pervez Ashraf.

The ruling PPP and its allies first submitted nominations for Makhdoom Shahabuddin and Raja Pervez Ashraf, but later Qamar Zaman Kaira also filed his papers when a lower court issued arrest warrants against Shahabuddin for his alleged involvement in the ephedrine scam.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman from the JUI-F and Sardar Mehtab Abbasi from the PML-N had also filed their nomination papers. The next chief executive of the country will be selected during the National Assembly session which has been convened today in the evening.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jun 22 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.