Who will be the next president?

[LRE]

Who will be the next president?
RECORDER REPORT
ISLAMABAD (August 19 2008): Musharraf's exit has given birth to wild speculations about who will be replacing him in the next 30 days. The names that have emerged so far are: Asif Zardari, Faryal Talpur, and former defence minister from PPP Aftab Shahban Mirani. According to western media, however, chief of Awami National Party Asfandyar Wali is also being tipped as a potential candidate for the highest office in Pakistan.

Given that Zardari had earlier ruled out his candidature, he would prefer to have one of the most party loyalists, Shahban Mirani, on this post. His second preference, sources said, would be his own sister Faryal who won National Assembly election from Benazir Bhutto's Larkana seat. According to party sources, with Musharraf's resignation, a change in governors cannot be ruled out. Owais Ghani, the NWFP governor, seems to be the first casualty in the post-Musharraf era.

Balochistan could be the next province, which may require the appointment of a new governor in place of present governor Sardar Zulfikar Ali Magsi, who has already expressed his intentions to resign.

In the case of Sindh, however, this will be a dicey proposition for the PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. Both his continuity or removal is heavily dependent upon PPP-MQM relationship in the post-Musharraf era. According to a senior PPP leader, who requested anonymity, there are no plans to remove Sindh governor Dr Ishratul Ibad as the party still wanted that MQM continued to work as part of the ruling coalition in the Sindh set-up.

Moreover, he added, perceived threats to Dr Ibad's governorship had been minimised, if not fully eliminated, by the MQM itself. He elaborated that the party had played a "very constructive" role in the Sindh assembly on the issue of no confidence against General Musharraf. He pointed out that the Altaf-led party made a very good move by abstaining from the house and did not cast vote against the resolution seeking Musharraf's resignation.

The laundry list of possible changes also include those who have got posting in foreign missions over the past many years. Some of those who are considered very close to General Musharraf are expected to be replaced with others very soon. According to party sources, Khurshid Junejo is likely replace Ahsan Shah as Pakistan's ambassador to the UAE very soon.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2008