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PPP-Fahim rift widens

ISLAMABAD: The rift between the Pakistan People’s Party and its sidelined deputy leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim widened on Monday, almost ruling out the possibility of the one-time favourite being a contender for Prime Minister, and raising concerns at the future of the PPP.

The most likely candidate for Prime Minister now appears to be Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar, owner of Pakistan’s largest shoe company and good friend of PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari, whose claim to fame in the recent election was defeating the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) leader Chaudhary Shujat Hussain in the latter’s Gujrat stronghold.

The rift within the PPP, which was only rumoured till Sunday, became apparent with Mr. Fahim’s absence at the Murree meeting of Mr. Zardari and PML(N) leader Nawaz Sharif.

Asked about his absence, Mr. Zardari said Mr. Fahim had been invited, but could not make it as he had been occupied elsewhere.

“This was too small an event for him to attend.” But Mr. Fahim said he never got the invitation. On Monday, PPP spokeswoman Sherry Rehman said a senior leader of the party had been entrusted with inviting Mr. Fahim, but the invitation was somehow not communicated to him.

The veteran PPP leader from Sindh responded that he was not a “guest artist” but leader of the PPP parliamentary group, and the party should have ensured that the invitation reached him.

According to media reports, the fallout between Mr. Zardari and Mr. Fahim was a consequence of reported contacts between Mr. Fahim and the presidency.

The rift between the PPP and Mr. Fahim, who has a strong following in the Sindh province, main stronghold of the party, has raised fears that it may not hold together if he raises the flag of revolt. Already, the emergence of four names for Prime Minister appears to have divided the party across parochial lines.

Mr. Fahim has thus far avoided taking a directly confrontationist stand against Mr. Zardari, playing down his sidelining and reaffirming his loyalty to the party.

A report in The News said Mr. Zardari told a group of parliamentarians from Sindh that he had decided that he would take on the office of Prime Minister in three months, and therefore, he was going to bring in an interim Prime Minister from Punjab for just 90 days.

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