LAHORE - Out of the 11 Senators-elect from Punjab, six are making their first entry to the upper house for a period of six years.
Ch Tanvir Khan, Syed Nihal Hashmi, General Abdul Qayyum, Dr Ghaus Khan Niazi, and Ayesha Raza are the new faces going to represent the PML-N in the Senate. While the rest have been in the senate in four to two terms. Pervaiz Rasheed and Mushahiddullah Khan are already the federal ministers, while Raja Zafarul Haq is the Chairman of the N-League.
Among the newcomers, Ch Tanvir belongs from an upper class family with real estate and builders business. He is a former MPA and a confidant of Mian brothers who stood with the party through thick and thin. In the SCP attack case of Nov 1997, he faced restriction to contest the election through the court of law but his name was later on cleared and he freely took part in politics. Syed Nihal Hashmi is a Karachi based senior lawyer. He is the PML-N’s Sindh General Secretary and had also performed as adviser to Mamnoon Hussain when he was Sindh governor in 1997-98. Nihal proved a great help to the Sharifs on the legal side when they were facing plane hijacking case during Musharraf era before a trial court in Karachi and later on in the SHC.
Saleem Zia is also a Karachi based leader and is the senior vice president of PML-N. His name for the Senate seat was picked up at the eleventh hour.
Dr Ghaus Khan is the PML-N Khushab President. He is a frequent dweller in Saudi Arabia which also enabled him cultivate close ties with the Sharifs during their period of exile.
Lt-Gen (r) Abdul Qayyum joined the PML-N before May 2013 election. He had held office of Chairman Pakistan Ordinance Factory and Chairman Pakistan Steel Mill during Musharraf era.
Ayesha Raza was previously appointed as MNA on women reserved seats. She is widow of senior advocate Raza Farooq.