ISLAMABAD: PPP spoke­sman Farhatullah Babar claimed on Wednesday that the opposition parties had reached an agreement on the candidate for the office of the deputy chairman of Senate, but said the name would be announced by Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Shah on Thursday morning.

Mr Babar made the statement during a brief chat with reporters after a late-night meeting of political parties at Zardari House.

Answering a question, he said they were deliberately not disclosing the name, but claimed that the deadlock had ended. He, however, hinted that like the Senate chairman, the deputy chairman would also be from the opposition alliance.

Also read: Balochistan senator emerges as contender for deputy chairperson

The political leadership had gathered at the Zardari House after failing to reach an agreement at a meeting held earlier at the residence of PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.

Prominent among those who attended the meeting, presided over by Asif Zardari, were Chaudhry Pervez Elahi of the PML-Q, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, BNP-A chief Israrullah Zehri, former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Aitzaz Ahsan, Syed Khurshid Shah, Sherry Rehman and Farhatullah Babar.

Sources in the opposition told Dawn that after agreeing on the name of Raza Rabbani for the office of the Senate chairman, both the PPP and the PML-N had stepped aside and decided to leave the matter of selection of the candidate for the office of the deputy chairman to smaller parties, particularly from Balochistan.

The sources said that besides the PML-Q, ANP and BNP-A, the JUI-F which is a ruling coalition partner with the PML-N at the centre, had also jumped into the race for the deputy chairman’s slot and Maulana Fazlur Rehman had suggested the name of his party’s secretary general Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri.

The PML-Q is vying for Rubina Irfan and Saeedul Hassan Mandokhel whereas the ANP wants the position for its lone senator from Balochistan Daud Achakzai. Interestingly, with only two seats in the Senate, BNP-A chief Israrullah Zehri has presented himself as a candidate for the office, for which the elections are due on Thursday.

The sources said the name of the previous nominee of the government, Hasil Bizenjo, and that of Jahanzeb Jamaldini, the lone senator of BNP-Mengal, were also discussed.

PkMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai, whose party is also a part of the government alliance, attended the meeting for some time at the residence of Chaudhry Shujaat.

When contacted, Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said the PML-N had withdrawn itself from the race and was awaiting a decision of other parties.

Earlier, talking to Dawn, PML-Q secretary general Mushahid Hussain Sayed had said that they had failed to reach agreement because no party was ready to show flexibility and withdraw from the race and now most likely the decision would be taken by Mr Zardari.

Meanwhile, Senate chairman-designate Raza Rabbani tendered on Wednesday his resignation as additional secretary general of the PPP.

The new senators are due to take oath on Thursday morning after which the session will be suspended till afternoon for election of the chairman and the deputy chairman for the next three years.

Published in Dawn March 12th , 2015

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