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Govt decides in principle to make Khosa Punjab governor

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ISLAMABAD: The government has decided in principle to appoint Sardar Latif Khosa as the new Punjab governor and an announcement to this effect is expected within two days.

At a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat on Sunday, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said the consultation process for the appointment of the new governor was still going on.

However, sources close to the Presidency and the prime minister confirmed that Latif Khosa was a hot contender and an announcement will be made within the next 48 hours, most probably before the departure of President Zardari to the United States to attend the last rites of Richard Holbrooke.

Latif Khosa held a meeting with Prime Minister Gilani at the Prime Minister’s House on Sunday, which strengthened the chances of his appointment as the new Punjab governor. The meeting was termed important as Khosa was the only contender for the governor’s slot who met the premier.

Though the Prime Minister’s House did not make any official announcement of the meeting so as to play down the nature of the meeting, sources close to the prime minister hinted that the meeting was important and outcome of the meeting will be clear by today (Monday) or tomorrow (Tuesday).

Sources in the Prime Minister’s House confirmed that no summary of advice for the appointment of the new governor has been sent to the Presidency so far but it was expected that it would be sent today (Monday).

It may be mentioned here that the relations between Prime Minister Gilani and Sardar Latif Khosa became tense when the premier had stopped him from using the powers of a minister while being the adviser on Information Technology.

After that move of the premier, Latif Khosa tendered his resignation as the adviser but his resignation was not accepted. However, the resignation of Latif Khosa was accepted when he appeared before the Supreme Court to file the review petition on the NRO.

Sources said there is a possibility that the announcement of Latif Khosa’s appointment as the Punjab governor would be made either today (Monday) or tomorrow (Tuesday). When contacted, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said no decision on the appointment of the Punjab governor had been made so far.

End.