PPP top brass starts three-day candidate review process
Our correspondent, Saturday, February 07, 2015, Source - The News
With the Senate elections less than a month off, the Pakistan People’s Party’s parliamentary board convened at Bilawal House on Friday to commence its three-day session to review applications for party tickets.
The first session was chaired by co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and attended by former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Raza Rabbani, Sherry Rehman and Faryal Talpur.
Reportedly, over 30 applications were reviewed on the day along with interviews of prospective candidates including Rehman Malik, Maula Bukhsh Chandio, Najmi Alam, Gul Muhammad Jakhrani, Lal Bakhsh Bhutto, Nadeem Bhutto, Farzana Baloch, Prof ND Khan, Munira Shakir, Zulfikar Qaimkhani, Khalid Jawed, Jam Tamachi Unnar, Justice (Retd) Deedar Hussain Shah and Zahid Bhurgri.
On Saturday (today), the board is expected to scrutinise the over 50 remaining applications for the total of 11 vacant seats available for Sindh. While the first two sessions would be for applicants from the province, candidates from Punjab, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be evaluated on the third day.
The 11 seats include seven general seats; two for technocrats or ulema and two seats reserved for female candidates. The PPP has been eying a successful campaign for at least seven of the 11 seats and has been contacting other parties with parliamentary presence including the Muttahida Quami Movement, Pakistan Muslim League – Functional and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz.
Speaking to the media at the Sindh Assembly earlier in the day, Sindh Information and Local Government Minister Sharjeel Memon was confident over the party’s chances in the Senate elections and asserted that all quarters hoping for a PPP defeat were in for a rude awakening.
As for the party’s recent political manoeuvring, Memon confirmed it was a critical part of the PPP’s strategy for the Senate polls and was optimistic it would yield results.
