Taseer was appointed Governor Punjab by Pervez Musharraff in May 2008. An old friend of Mr Zardari, he was undoubtedly a strong personality who after last elections, extended his full support to PPP. He truly was the sole spokes person for PPP in the province and kept  Sharif brother’s on toes and remained active in defining the PPP’s next move in the province of Punjab.

Many names emerged as potential candidates for the post of Governor Punjab, including Babar Awan, Asma Jahangir, Jahngir Badar, Aitizaz Ahsan, Ahmed Mukhtar etc. However the final pick was Sardar Latif Ahmed Khosa. Sardar sahib has served as Attorney General of Pakistan, after serving at this position for a year, he was removed due to allegations of corruption (only Rs 3million)! His appointment as governor was immediately challenged in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on the grounds that he is ineligible for the post of governor under articles 62 and 63 of the constitution because he was removed from the office of Attorney General in 2009 on charges of corruption.

Will he be as effective as Taseer was? Will he be able to deliver to the expectations of Mr Zardari? Off course million dollar questions.

Clearly, Khosa has a closer political affiliation with PPP as compared to Taseer. Reading in the press that party workers in Punjab are not too happy with Khosa’s appointment raises my concern of increased political instability in the biggest province of the country. Apparently, his gesture to give a nice hug to Shahbaz Sharif, Governor Khosa is trying to get closer to PML-N leadership.

Lets analyze the challenges faced by the new governor.

Although they are coalition partners, there is a strong scuffle between the PML-N and PPP. Both parties have been trying to block each other’s way in running the day-to-day affair of Punjab government. Political workers from both parties are acting as enemies. If party line is now changing, and PPP is really interested in gaining ground in Punjab against PML-N, the biggest challenge would be to help government perform for the good of the people of Punjab.

Another major challenge in the province is the shortage of energy resources. A large number of industries are closed due to non-availability of natural gas. Come March, power distribution will cause a lot of problems. Increased unemployment and corruption at the grass root level will also cause huge pressure on this politically appointed governor. Governor Khosa will be the one to face the music from PPP workers.

PML-Q has a unique role in the emerging situation. Chudhry Akram of PML-Q thinks that Governor Khosa’s political posture does not match with Aitzaz Ahsan or Raza Rabbani. One needs to see how Governor Khosa develops his relationship with PML-Q, a party that was called Qatil League (murderer league) after Benazir’s sad demise in December 2008.

Perhaps Punjab will be the decisive ground for the key political parties in the next general elections, and the battle has begun already!

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