We all saw how PML(N) representatives were acting quite seriously to try to defer the matter of choosing a caretaker prime minister. From the start of the process, they tried to redirect the issue to Fakhru Bhai. The reason in their minds was simple, they were sure that Nasir Aslam Zahid would definitely be selected by the Election Commission. For some reason they looked damn sure about it. However, they could never contemplate Mir Hazar Khan Khoso being selected as the Guy!
The 4-1 decission in favour of Justice(R) Khoso came as a real shocker to PML(N) and especially to Choudry Nisar. It was the rigid attitude of Choudry Nisar which made it difficult for politicians to sort out the matter.
As it was the first ever chance for the Policitians to choose a caretaker prime minister, they failed to set a healthy trend. In the first step, Prime Minister Pervez Ashraf and Choudry Nisar successfully failed to come up to any compromise in choosing a candidate as a care taker prime minister. They initiated the process very late which showed the unserious attitude of both sides.
In the second step a committee was formed which consisted of members from ruling parties and that of opposition’s. However, from the opposition, ironically, all the four members belonged to PML(N). Other opposition parties such as JUI(F) were ignored by PML(N). This move showed how desperately PML(N) wanted their candidate of choice to be selected as caretaker Prime Minister. A parade of meetings were held but it didn’t seem like the committee would reach any decision. This perception was aided by Choudry Nisar’s unnecessary press conference, during the middle of the committee’s deliberations, in which he intended to take the matter to election commission.
As expected, the politicians failed to come up to any decision and the matter was referred to election commission. In a press conference the committee’s members disclosed the sad news to the nation. The ruling parties’ members looked dismayed, while PML(N) members looked visibly happy. In the committee’s meetings, PMLN had heavily pressed on Justice(R) Nasir Aslam Zahid’s candidature. They strongly rejected any other nomination. The satisfaction on their faces showed that they were very happy of the matter to be referred to election commission. It looked like their candidate was going to be selected.
As a constitutional rule, four names, two from each party, were sent to election commission. The names of Justice(R) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso and Dr. Ishrat Hussain were sent from PPP’s side and Justice(R) Nasir Aslam Zahid and Hasil Bazinjo were recommended by PML(N). However, it was no secret that Justice The next day the election commission met and the pre-meeting talk of Fakhru Bhai led us to believe that the candidate would be chosen in and an hour or two. However, the meeting took longer than expected and by the end of the day, ended in no decision. The decision was postponed to the last day.
While the meeting of the Election Commission was under way, both ruling and opposition parties continued blaming each other’s candidates. Each tried to influence the decision of the Election Commission. However, today it was decided that Mr Khoso would be the caretaker prime minister. This decision obviously came as a real shocker for PMLN. Only one member of the Election Commission voted against Mr Khoso and four, including Fakhru Bhai, voted in favour of him.
This whole process can very well be called as the failure of politicians to come up to a compromise. In any case, one name was to be chosen from their own proposed names, and it would have been positive development if both parties had chosen that name by themselves. The rigid behaviour of PMLN played a key role in sending the matter to Election Commission. If they had shown a little bit flexibility, this matter would have been amicably decided by the parliamentary committee. At the end, the winner can very well be President Zardari who played his cards well and got his favourite nominee selected.