PM keen on due representation of all regions in federal set-up

ISLAMABAD: Provincial and regional representation weighs on the mind of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as he picks up the next Senate chairman and the Punjab governor.
“This consideration will certainly be kept in mind while selecting these two key office holders,” a senior official source told The News.He said that no decision has yet been reached on the nominee but it would not be surprising if the next Punjab governor is taken from southern Punjab.
The source said this would give a positive message to this part of Punjab. Different names are being speculated for the gubernatorial slot. He was conscious of the fact that some elements continue to resort to the misplaced propaganda that the PML-N was not paying due attention to southern Punjab, which, he said, was contrary to the facts.
He said in reality the government has allocated more development funds for this region compared to other parts of the province. To deflect this criticism the PML-N has taken a number of measures to show that it cares about the Saraiki belt.
There is a possibility that a female governor may be appointed, which will be a first Punjab’s history. Senior PML-N Sardar Zulfikar Khosa was potentially a strong candidate for this slot, but he marred his chances by rebelling against his party. During his second stint as prime minister, Nawaz Sharif he had served a Punjab governor for less than two months - from August 18, 1999 to October 12, 1999.
There are indications that the next Senate Chairman will come either from Punjab or Balochistan as the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has almost all of its sitting senators and those to be selected in the March 3 election to half of the Upper House of Parliament from these two provinces.
The PML-N will have no representation from Sindh and may get just one senator elected from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to its negligible strength in this provincial assembly.
In the present dispensation President Mamnoon Hussain hails from Sindh while the prime minister belongs to Punjab. The outgoing Senate chairman was from Islamabad and his deputy from Balochistan. Among the highest constitutional office holders, the National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq hails from Punjab.
However, there is no constitutional or legal bar to have any top office holders from a certain area. This is an informal arrangement, which is mostly adhered to and is meant to give representation in the federation to all parts of Pakistan.
In the forthcoming Senate election, the PML-N and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will emerge as the main seat holders with a difference of hardly two seats. The PPP may either come out as the single largest party with around 26 or will have almost the same tally as that of the PML-N.
With the support of the smaller parties and FATA senators, the PML-N is likely to get its nominees elected as chairman and deputy chairman.With the retirement of 21 of its 40 senators the PPP is left with 19 lawmakers. It may get around seven seats from Sindh. The PML-N has eight senators after the retirement of an equal number of its members. It is going to win either all the eleven or at least ten seats from Punjab because of its unprecedented hold over this provincial assembly apart from the seats that it will bag from Balochistan and Islamabad.
The Senate seats were increased to 104 from 100 through a constitutional amendment by adding four senators from the minorities, one from each province, who were elected in the March 2012 election. After their election, a draw was held to decide the tenure, three or six years, of these four senators.
Those elected from the KP and Balochistan got three-year term, which has now expired. Their replacements will be chosen by the KP and Balochistan assemblies. In view of the numerical scenario in these legislatures, the PTI will clinch the seat from the KP while either PML-N or any of its allies will get the seat from Balochistan.