Sharif 'imports' ex-UK lawmaker as new governor of Punjab

The ruling PML-N leadership has decided to appoint a former British lawmaker of Pakistani- origin as the new governor of Pakistan's most populous province of Punjab.
A PML-N senator told PTI that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had informed his close aides the decision to appoint Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar to the coveted post.
The post of the governor of Punjab, a province of 90-million, fell vacant after the resignation of Makhdoom Ahmed Mahmood, a nominee of President Asif Ali Zardari, last week.
Sarwar will give up his British citizenship before assuming the charge as a dual-national cannot hold a public office in Pakistan under the Constitution.

Earlier, Rehman Malik, who was an interior minister in the previous PPP government, had to give up his British nationality to stick to the office.
The PM's decision to 'import' a British citizen for the coveted slot, has left the other contenders disappointed.

The PML-N Senators - Zulifqar Khosa, Rafique Rajwana and Jaffar Iqbal - who had been lobbying for the post - have expressed their disappointment over the leadership's choice.
The PML-N circles believe that the Sharifs want to 'oblige' his cronies. Belonging to Faisalabad district of Punjab before settling in the UK some 35 years ago, Sarwar was elected as Labour MP for Glasgow Govan in 1997 and served till 2010.

Sarwar had an old association with the Sharif family and in the last election Nawaz Sharif awarded some tickets to his (Sarwar) recommendations in Faisalabad district.
Sarwar was also a successful businessman of the UK.
He had turned the cash-and-carry business he started with his brother into a substantial business empire, making him worth an estimated 16 million pounds.
He also played a leading role in bringing the killers of Glasgow schoolboy Kriss Donald in 2004 to justice after they fled to Pakistan, using his connections to help arrange their extradition.