PML-N mulls Raja Zafarul Haq as Chairman Senate

ISLAMABAD: PML-N is now mulling to nominate Raja Zafarul Haq as Chairman Senate after Nawaz Sharif’s offer for a joint candidate was shot down by Asif Zardari.

Nawaz, earlier this week, had conveyed to the PPP leadership that if Raza Rabbani is nominated for the office, PML-N would support it but Zardari quickly turned down the offer saying ‘he doesn’t want that’.

While the jockeying to grab the Senate top slot continues, both PPP and PML-N have intensified their efforts to woo independents and smaller parties towards them.

PML-N allies JUI-F, National Party, and PkMap have not put forward and demand as yet.

Despite being the largest party after the March 03 Senate polls, PML-N has not been able to gain the support of enough senators to get his chairman elected. However, on the other hand PPP co-chairman win over Balochistan senators during a meeting with CM Quddus Bizenjo on Thursday.

Prior to this development, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan announced his support for Balochistan and handed over PTI's 13 senators to Bizenjo.

Khan said his party would try to stonewall attempts by Sharif in his efforts to elect a Senate chairman from the PML-N.

Speaking to media persons at the Balochistan House here after meeting a delegation of the newly-elected independent senators from Balochistan, led by Balochistan chief minister, Khan wished that the next Senate chairman should be from Balochistan.

In order to address the grievances of Balochistan, the deprived province must be given the opportunity. Therefore, he said, the PTI has decided to hand over its Senate seats to the Balochistan chief minister. “The PML-N is hell bent upon crippling the state institutions and it is committed to safeguard Sharif mafia’s corruption. We are concerned that if the Senate chairman is from the PML-N, they may enact laws to safeguard the Sharif family from the charges of corruption they face,” he explained.