Senate standing committees: Intense lobbying by PPP to win top slots

ZULFIQAR AHMAD

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party is said to have started intense lobbying to win the chairmanship of standing committees of the Senate, dealing the top ministries, it is realiably learnt.

According to sources, the senior leadership of the incumbent government has been tasked by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to win the chairmanships of important standing committees, top of which is the panel on petroleum and natural resources. But evolving similarity in the opinion, they added, is an uphill task as Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) both are also keen to pocket the uppermost slots of parliamentary panel on petroleum and natural resources and finance. People’s Party, which has emerged as the largest party in Upper House of Parliament with 41 seats, is trying its best to have at least 50 per cent share in the committees, which cannot be achieved until and unless the sympathies of chairmen are not won, sources added.

Awami National Party, on the other hand, is also keen and is making all-out efforts to assemble some votes from Fata and independent senators, to show their solid presence as aspirants of the standing committee on petroleum. They said PML-N, being the runner-up in Senate, will certainly show Ghafoor Haidari the door as leader of opposition in Senate, and press the government to bestow them with at least 1-2 standing committees of their choice on the basis of its numerical strength (14).

Also connected to it is the issue of electing chairman and deputy chairman Senate. They said the replacement of incumbent Senate Chairman Dr Farooq H Naek is not likely as President Asif Zardari is not in mood to give the trigger to anybody else. The sources privy to the development revealed that Sardar Fateh Muhammad Hasni, a newly-elected PPP senator from Balochistan, is likely to be the potential candidate for deputy chairman’s slot.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that PPP wants to secure some standing committee chairmanships for PML-Q as well, fearing ignoring the party may damage its strategic relationship, as members may get annoyed if not given a representation in the house committees.