National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, who was an aspirant for the chair of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s executive committee, but dropped out of the race in favour of PML-Q Likeminded MNA Kashmala Tariq, is laughing in the sleeves over Kashmala’s defeat in the CPA election.
Fehmida had withdrawn her candidature on the directions of President Asif Ali Zardari, as he wanted to give a goodwill gesture to the PML-Q Likeminded. Sir Alan Haselhurst has been elected the new chair of the CPA executive committee after a hard fought, three-corner contest for the key slot. Sir Alan, chair of the CPA UK and a former deputy speaker of the House of Commons, won the election against Fiamé Mata’afa, Samoa’s minister for justice and a veteran parliamentarian, and Kashmala Tariq in a two-round runoff vote.
A source in the NA told Pakistan Today that Fehmida had been asked by the Presidency a few months ago not to contest the CPA election. “Dr Fehmida Mirza, despite her strong ambitions to run the race for the lucrative slot, withdrew her candidature and provided an opportunity to Kashmala to be a contestant for the prestigious position,” said the source, adding that the same tug of war between Fehmida and Kashmala resulted in frequent heated exchanges between the two in the House.
The source said the NA Secretariat had been asked by the Presidency to bear the expenses of the electioneering by Kashmala, “but the Secretariat replied that it did not have sufficient funds to support the expensive campaign.” The source said that on refusal from the NA Secretariat, the government had asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to bear the expenses of Kashmala’s election campaign.
A source in the PPP said Fehmida was quite happy over Kashmala’s defeat, but she had held back her emotions. In a meeting with some PML-Q MNAs on Thursday, Fehmida said she had tried her best to get Kashmala elected for the prestigious slot, but it had been unfortunate that she lost.
Fehmida laughs in sleeves over Kashmala’s defeat
