Election cabinet put in place

ISLAMABAD: An ‘election cabinet’, giving greater share to south Punjab, has been put in place to neutralise certain groups belonging to the rivals of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in different districts including Lodhran, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rahim Yar Khan and Multan.

It is a mix of veteran, old faces and new entrants with an utmost effort having been made to keep every area of Pakistan and segment of the party in good humour. It has been formed after a lot of deliberations.

Loyalty and commitment to the PML-N heavily weighed on the minds of decision-makers led by deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. In addition, those party leaders who were in the forefront in defending Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N and forcefully retaliating against the opposition’s onslaught during the crisis relating to the Panama Papers revelations were considered. Talal Chaudhry and Mohsin Ranjha have been accommodated.

By giving increased representation to south Punjab in the cabinet, the PML-N has made a powerful bid to cover its flanks in this area, where certain heavyweights of the opposition parties will contest the forthcoming general elections.

Nawaz Sharif’s most trusted lieutenants including Khawaja M Asif, Khurram Dastgir and Ahsan Iqbal were allotted important portfolios like foreign affairs, defence and interior respectively. This way, a major demand of the opposition parties that was once aired with a lot of ferocity – appointment of a full-fledged foreign minister – has also been met by the PML-N at a time of its own choosing. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s omission is noteworthy.

The PML-N’s strong allies – Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) and National Party – have been accorded due representation. In the Panama crisis, they solidly stood behind the ousted prime minister and kept rejecting the wild corruption allegations against him. Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F got one seat more compared to its previous single portfolio. Maulana Amir Zaman, elected from Loralai, was made a minister. The PML-Functional retained its one seat in the cabinet as Pir Syed Sadaruddin Shah Rashidi was chosen again.

Mushahidullah, who was sacked from the cabinet after his famous outburst about the purportedly monitored telephonic conversation between the sponsors of the 2014 sit-in and some powerful officers, staged a comeback. He was selected again for his unwavering commitment to the PML-N. Even when he was shown the exit door, the then premier had done so with a heavy heart because of his steadfastness.

Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal, also made minister, had defeated senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Qamar Zaman Kaira in the 2013 elections from NA-106 Gujrat with a huge margin. He has been encouraged to maintain his position in the future polls as well. The tribal belt was given representation with the induction of Ghalib Khan, who holds the PML-N ticket.

All the PML-N groups in Dera Ghazi Khan have been accommodated in the cabinet. Owais Leghari and Hafiz Abdul Karim, one of the richest lawmakers, who is chief of the Ahle Hadith in Punjab, figure in this category.

Abdul Karim had defeated the Legharis in their home constituency of Choti. Although, Legharis had almost joined the PML-N before the 2013 general elections, Zulfiqar Khosa with active support of some PML-N stalwarts had thwarted it. They became associated with the PML-N after the polls. The Leghari group had won all the Dera Ghazi Khan seats except their hometown hereditary seat that Abdul Karim had clinched.

By inducting in the cabinet Owais Leghari and Abdul Karim, who are at daggers drawn in the district politics, the PML-N has introduced a co-existence strategy in this area. A message has also been sent to Zulfiqar Khosa, who will be politically in a nutcracker situation — with both opponents Owais and Abdul Karim being the federal ministers. Owais developed good rapport with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif over the last four years.

Owais is the scion of former President Farooq Leghari. Although, his brother Jamal is the chief of Legharis being the eldest son of Farooq Legahri, the clan’s political strategist is Owais. Farooq Leghari always regarded him as his political heir and Jamal as the tribal chief. Owais is married to a close relative of Nawab Kalabagh. Alia Malik and Sumera Malik are his sisters-in-law. This factor may play an important role in Mianwali in the upcoming parliamentary polls.

Another lawmaker, Arshad Leghari, from Sadiqabad (Rahim Yar Khan), has been taken in the cabinet to take care of Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood, who is associated with the PPP. The combination of Javed Ali Shah, Sikandar Hayat Bosan, the two new ministers, and Punjab Governor Rafiq Rajwana, all three from Multan, is meant to counter Yousuf Raza Gilani and Shah Mahmood Qureshi in this district.

In Lodhran, Kanju’s inclusion in the cabinet is a message for Jehangir Tareen.This is the first-ever cabinet of the PML-N that is not headed by a Sharif obviously because of Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification by the Supreme Court on July 31, which necessitated bringing in of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as the prime minister and a new federal team.