ANP demands deputy chairman Senate's slot

The Awami National Party (ANP) has demanded of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to give it the slot of deputy chairman Senate, as it has the largest number of seats in Senate among all government coalition partners.
Talking to Business Recorder, Senator Ilyas Ahmad Bilour, who has successfully maintained his seat in Upper House of Parliament for the fourth consecutive term, said that it was their right as they had always stood by the government through thick and thin. The PPP was considering to elect somebody from Balochistan, he added, saying that they would convey it to the government that the slot must be given to Dawood Khan Achakzai -newly elected ANP senator from Balochistan.
"We are the second largest party among the coalitions. The deputy chairman slot is our right as we never looked back from the day-one...we'd been fully supporting the government and never believed in politics of blackmailing," he added.
In the recently held elections to Upper of House Parliament, the ANP has become the second largest seat winning party of the coalition government. The PPP government was all set to appoint Sardar Fateh Muhammad Hasni, its newly elected member from Balochistan, as deputy chairman Senate.
It was also learnt that ANP may succeed in clinching the coveted slot of deputy chairman if Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), which is also lobbying for Rubina Irfan - its newly elected member from the restive province, shows some flexibility.
The clever move of the government in its bid to occupy all the top slots may go down the drain after its two coalition partners have come up with the demand of the slot. The PPP is already considering Sardar Fateh Muahmmad Hasni's name for the top slot, in a bid to end the sense of deprivation among the already neglected people of the province.
According to sources privy to the development, the PPP is in a fix, as it could not afford losing neither PML-Q nor ANP. If it goes somewhere else, ignoring Balochistan, they added, it would increase the sense of deprivation among Balochs as the president, the National Assembly speaker and the Senate chairman all belong to Sindh, the prime minister to Punjab and the deputy speaker to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The election for the post of deputy chairman will be held after oath taking of new members' Senate on March 12.