PPP continues interviews for Senate polls

Karachi
The meeting of the parliamentary board of the Pakistan People’s Party continued for the second consecutive day on Saturday, conducting interviews for awarding party tickets to candidates for the upcoming Senate elections.
However, the meeting has been proceeding without party leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim.
Fahim’s absence from the meeting was noticeable in the backdrop of reports circulating since the end of last year that the senior politician had developed differences with the the top leadership.
Fahim is said to be out of the country and might join the ongoing deliberations of the parliamentary board on Sunday when the process would complete.
Like Friday’s session, the meeting was chaired by PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and attended by former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and senior leaders Raza Rabbani, Faryal Talpur, and Sherry Rehman.
The notable prospective candidates who were interviewed on Saturday included Islamuddin Shaikh, Farooq H Naek, Saleem Mandviwalla, Abdul Qadir Patel, Akhtar Jadoon, Arshad Naqvi, Asghar Bihari, Pir Mazharul Haq, Rukhsana Zuberi, Jam Saifullah Dharejo, Malik Mushtaq, Haji Muzaffar Shujra, Nisar Baloch, Humaira Alwani, Aneela Ansari, Naheed Tahir, Begum Nargis ND Khan, Habbuddin Juandi.
The strong contenders among the applicants include Farooq H Naek, Rehman Malik, Saleem Mandviwalla, Islamuddin Shaikh, Abdul Qadir Patel, Pir Mazharul Haq, Rukhsana Zuberi, Justice (retd) Deedar Hussain Shah, Begum Nargis ND Khan, and Begum Nargis ND Khan.
The PPP could easily win seven out of these 11 Senate seats, which are going to be vacant and belong to Sindh province while the PPP has started political contacts with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement for devising a seat adjustment formula for the March 3 Senate polls.