PPP’s Senator Raza Rabbani is unlikely to get party ticket for the next senate elections in 2012, as a strong lobby from Sindh is active against him and the senator is in the good books of his party leadership no more. A source in the ruling PPP said the senator, whose tenure ends in March 2012, is facing serious lobbying from within the party, especially from Sindh, which may deprive him from getting the party ticket for the next Senate elections. The source said Rabbani had annoyed the party leaders from Sindh, including 12 advisers who were shown door on his directives. As the chairman of the 18th Amendment Implementation Commission, Rabbani had asked the Sindh chief minister to limit the number of advisers to five from 17.
The 12 dismissed advisers included Sharmila Farooqui, Muhammad Ali Malkani, Imtiaz Shaikh, Muhammad Siddique Abu Bhai, Jahangir Dilawar Khanji, Dinshaw Anklesaria, Babar Leghari, Muhammad Kamran Behan, Mufti Ferozuiddin Hazarvi, Sardar Aamir Khan Bhutto, Jameel Ahmed Soomro and Waqas Malik. Among the terminated advisers, Imtiaz Shaikh and Babar Leghari belong to the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional while the rest are affiliated with the PPP. The source said that those dismissed as advisers blame Rabbani for their misfortune, and are lobbying against him in party circles.
“They are ready to go to any extent against Rabbani due to what they read as his efficiency,” the source added. He said the troubles for Rabbani had multiplied, as he had also lost the trust of the party’s top leadership due to multiple reasons. “Rabbani is no more in good books of the party leadership due to his blunt and open policy on national issues,” the party source said. The source said it was no less than a tragedy that the PPP top leadership needed “jobbers” and not real politicians, particularly of big stature. “The party leadership likes to be heard and nothing beyond it,” he added.
He quoted an example from Sindh where the son of a sitting PPP MNA, MPA Nawab Munawar Talpur, was implicated in a “fake” case on murder charges by the Umerkot DCO, to “get his father fall in line with the party policy”. He also quoted the case of Makhdoom Amin Faheem, saying until and unless he was turned into a real “yes man”, he was not offered a minister’s slot. Rabbani is one of the few PPP leaders who have unblemished political credentials. He also served as Leader of the House in Senate from March 30, 2008 to March 13, 2009. He had desired Senate chairmanship and later the slot of the leader of the House in the Senate, but the party did not accommodate any of his requests.