No member of Makhdoom Amin Fahim led alienated lot of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) will be inducted in the federal cabinet in its forthcoming expansion in the next few days. Those who are publicly taking offense at Asif Zardari's approach and strategy have not even been considered for elevation as ministers, PPP sources, knowing the co-chairman's mind, say. They have no doubt that only Zardari loyalists will be the new stars in the cabinet. They say that those who have extended no assistance to the government and the PPP when it has been under pressure for a variety of reasons in the initial days of government but have instead been creating problems for them would surely get no official berth. One of them referred to a recent statement of Amin Fahim in which he was quoted to have said that he has nothing to do with the PPP that is in power now. With the passage of time estrangement of Fahim and others, who share his views after being shunned by Zardari, has increased. Zardari's policy is to further cut this lot to size after he was disenchanted with the past role and performance of its members. According to another source, around a dozen new ministers are being inducted. Aftab Shaaban Mirani tops all hopefuls. One of Zardari's two sisters, most possibly Faryal Talpur, the former Nazima of Nawabshah, who are members of the National Assembly, is also likely to be made minister. In Zardari's words, Faryal is the guardian of slain Benazir Bhutto's children. Other names that were discussed in the Dubai meeting of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani with Zardari, also included those of Babar Awan, Nabeel Gabol and a couple of women MPs. “It is beyond any doubt that anyone taken in the cabinet would have to look towards and be answerable to the Zardari House instead of the prime minister,” an irate PPP leader, who has no hope to get the ministerial slot, said in a taunting manner. He claimed that by constantly ignoring Amin Fahim and others in the high level decision making process Zardari wants to push them to a stage where they themselves leave the PPP. Among the PPP's parliamentary allies, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is going to clinch at least two federal positions that would be allocated to the ones nominated by their party. Neither Zardari nor Gilani would have any choice in this connection. However, Babar Ghouri and Haider Rizvi are leading contenders. Maulana Fazlur Rehman is struggling to get another cabinet post for a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) senator, arguing that his party has a large number in the Upper House, which supports the federal government. While it has just six MNAs, it has a dozen and a half senators. Before the new inductions, the source said, the PPP would make a concerted effort to prevail upon PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif to allow its resigned ministers to resume their cabinet positions. For the moment, there are no indications that the PML-N nominees will take up their ministerial slots because there is no flexibility in their party's stand on the question of the restoration of the deposed judges that had led to their walkout from the cabinet. No worthwhile discussion is scheduled between top leaders of the PPP and PML-N to resolve the issue. __
