ISLAMABAD: In a bid to appease its estranged allies and win the support of opposition parties on critical issues, the apparently cornered Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has started offering lucrative positions to them with the latest one of Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) chairmanship going to Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid Hamid Yar Hiraj.
The government on Monday appointed Hiraj chairman of ERRA after Altaf Saleem resigned.
Earlier, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F)’s Muhammad Khan Shirani was appointed chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) strangely on Eid day under pressure when the JUI-F chief had refused to take Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s call.
A source told Pakistan Today that Hiraj’s name was proposed to the prime minister by PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain a week ago. With this development, new alignments in the emerging political scenario have started taking practical shape.
Insiders said the appointment of “a PML-Q man” on a lucrative government position was also a message not only to the belligerent PML-N but also to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP) which had taken a strong position, particularly against the reformed general sales tax (RGST) bill.
They said with this appointment as a follow up of the meeting between Law Minister Babar Awan with the Chaudhrys and informal contacts between the PPP and the PML-Q, the erstwhile worst political rivals were now practically coming closer to a power-sharing deal.
It is understandable that the PPP took this decision to wriggle through a difficult situation it faced on the issue of the RGST bill which could not get through parliament in case all allies of the government and two major political parties – the PML-N and the PML-Q – were on the other side of the fence.
“In a meeting last month, Babar Awan offered the Chaudhrys to join the coalition at the Centre first, saying that then the PPP would consider a similar power-sharing formula in Punjab,” a source said.
Though the Chaudhrys were reluctant to join the coalition at the Centre, with this appointment it appeared that both the parties had finally reached an understanding to move forward.
The appointment of Hiraj has also created ripples in the PML-N which might lose power in Punjab in the face of understanding developing between the PPP and the PML-Q. The PML-Q had asked for the top executive position in the province in return for supporting the PPP in the Centre.
The press release issued from the Prime Minister’s House said the prime minister had appointed Hamid Yar Hiraj as new ERRA chairman after Saleem Altaf resigned on personal grounds.
Later, in a meeting with the newly-appointed and the outgoing ERRA chairmen, the prime minister had expressed confidence that keeping in view the important function of rehabilitation and reconstruction of the earthquake-affected areas, the new chairman would utilize all his abilities to carry forward the government’s reconstruction agenda in these areas.
He asked the new chairman to maximise the level of coordination and transparency as maintained by the authority. The prime minister also praised the services of the outgoing ERRA chairman. Saleem Altaf thanked the prime minister for his continued support during the discharge of his official duties.
