Heavy exchange of fire has begun between the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on the appointment of a known Nawaz-hater, businessman Salmaan Taseer, as the new Governor of the Punjab. The nomination will further increase the conflict and tensions between the two coalition partners as in Taseer's appointment PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari has clearly signaled to the PML-N that he does not feel the need to take it on board on making key appointments that do not require its input. Senior PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan immediately blasted the new appointment, saying the PML-N was not consulted but Information Minister Sherry Rehman countered by insisting that Zardari had spoken to PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif and taken him into confidence. PML-N spokesman Pervez Rashid, however, insisted that his party had not been consulted. A senior member of the PPP government claimed with emphasis that Taseer was his party's nominee and not that of President Pervez Musharraf who, he said, favored the outgoing Khalid Maqbool. If this is so, the new Punjab governor will be the first major political nomination by the PPP government removing an old Musharraf appointee. In Sindh, the PPP had to accept Muttahida Qaumi Movement's (MQM) Dr. Ishratul Ebad as the governor. Taseer and Nawaz Sharif have a history of hostility and acrimony going back to many years. In 1992 when the Sharifs were in the driving seat of the government, Taseer was detained along with several other PPP leaders and workers during Benazir Bhutto-led long march against the then regime. He was beaten black and blue in a police station. Among others, the main reason behind his thrashing was his instrumental role in whipping up a tussle within the Sharif family at the behest of his PPP. __
