KARACHI

Extremely disappointed inPunjabbut retained its traditional supremacy in its bastionSindh,PakistanPeople’s Party again emerged victorious by bagging 70 out of 130 general seats.

Winning Sindh Assembly seats was an easier task besides all odds staked against the party. But the trickier part will be selecting the leader of the House in Sindh Assembly as three horses are in the run for the top slot, including controversial Owais Muzaffar alias Tappi.

The other two in the race are stalwarts like Nisar Ahmed Khuhro and Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani.

On the face of it looks that President Asif Ali Zardari put his weight behind his blue-eyed Owais Muzaffar.

Analysts are of the opinion that Muzaffar Tappi may be given the provincial top slot because he is a new entrant and enjoys the blessings of President Asif Ali Zardari and Faryal Talpur. They are of the view that a man who enjoys confidence of the top party leadership can proved to be a dark horse.

However, if the decision is made in favour of foster brother of Zardari it may further weaken the credibility of the President who had failed to deliver.

Qaim Ali Shah, the most experienced hand of the party who served twice as chief minister, is likely to be offered the post of speaker if he agrees.

Hazar Khan Bijarani is also experienced and commands respect in the party.

Observers said contrary to the 2008 elections in which the PPP had won almost the same number of seats in the Sindh Assembly on the sympathy wave of martyrdom of its leader Benazir Bhutto, the May 11 results had belied the claims of its opponents by maintaining its strength.

The 11-party alliance in the province led by the PML-F had failed to make any dent in the Pakistan People’s Party fort.

According to unofficial results, the party has bagged 70 of the 130 general seats and will share with other parties 38 seats reserved for women and minorities.

A party meeting has been convened at Bilawal House here on Tuesday for consultation on probable candidates for the posts of the leader of the House and speaker and deputy speaker. Because of its past experience, this time the PPP is likely to obtain support of independents or likeminded smaller groups for effective governance in the province.

Sources in the PPP said there were reservations among leaders over forming another coalition with its previous major partner MQM because of sharp differences with it over the issue of local government system. The PPP leaders are of the opinion that during its last tenure it had suffered because of problems with the urban-based party which despite sharing power continued to play the role of opposition on many sensitive issues.