The late night breaking news on private TV channels came as a little surprise to me after the sour marriage of PPP and PML-N. Khalid Maqbool, appointed by Pervez Musharraf, was being considered as acceptable to the majority party of Punjab, PML-N. So why this change at the top level? And why Salman Taseer? And, who is Salman Taseer?

Salman Taseer is a highly educated man, a chartered accountant from England and Wales. His resume is extremely impressive and illustrious (read profile). But more important is his political affiliation. He has served as a federal minister earlier for PPP. More recently, he was inducted as the minister for industries in the caretaker setup under PM Soomro. Coming to the point, Mr. Taseer, on his political side, is affiliated with the PPP and also has favorable links with President Musharraf.

The presence of a pro-PPP and pro-Musharraf governor in Punjab is an alarming situation for PML-N. This act is basically designed to keep in check the PML-N’s government in Punjab while strengthening the control of PPP in the province. This is also an antithesis to what both the party leaders expressed in media regarding the support of each other’s government. In fact, this is yet another great political move by Asif Zardari from his newly acquired political wisdom, which at the moment seems invincible.

The way I see it, in the near future, PML-N will either quit or will be forced out (or forced to leave) the Punjab government as well. And when that happens, PPP will already be having their man in command even if they don’t get their own CM.

Punjab, historically, decides the dynamics of politics in Pakistan. With PML-N leaving the center (and not Punjab), it was imperative for PPP to keep a check on the PML-N’s government in Punjab (who at the moment seems to be overly aggressive).