News
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
PPP insiders seeking to have Jehangir Badr replaced* Reservations arose after PPP secretary general lost elections in hometown
By Hussain Kashif
LAHORE: A move to replace Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Secretary General Jehangir Badr has been initiated within the party and the leadership is considering various names of potential replacements who could serve the party more effectively, Daily Times has learnt.
Senior party sources told Daily Times that some of the party leaders had reservations on the existing secretary general's weaknesses, including the fact that he could not win elections at his own home ground. His critics have also argued that he lacks other abilities required to hold such a high-profile office for one of the biggest political parties in the country.
They said that Badr should have "ethically resigned after losing the elections" with Rana Aftab's case being a precedent in this regard. "Although they (critics) never discuss these things openly, they desire a change as the office is not delivering according to expectations, such as moving in all corners and managing to reunite the annoyed groups within the party," the sources said, adding that the issue was now being openly discussed in the party and one such example was PPP Punjab Finance Secretary Aurangzeb Burki's on the record suggestion during a ceremony on Sunday, where he said that he would request the party's central command to induct Federal Law Minister Babar Awan as their new secretary general. Burki had further said that Awan was a much better option for the same seat due to his devotion to promote the true ideology of the party and ability to tackle opponents across the country, especially in Punjab.
They said that the other reason for the move was reservations regarding the secretary general's affiliations with the "renegade group", who claim to have close ties with former premier Benazir Bhutto and want to run the party according to their perspectives.
"Badr lost from his hometown against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Bilal Yaseen in the last general elections and now he has no ethical grounds to hold the secretary's seat, especially after the resignation of Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan for losing by-elections in his constituency in Faisalabad two months ago," the sources added.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk