Race for the Presidency

PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, having thrown his hat into the ring, had as many as 14 sets of nomination papers filed on Tuesday for a three-way presidential contest in which he will be pitted against the PML(N)'s Justice (retd) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui and the PML(Q)'s Senator Mushahid Hussain. Mr Zardari's sister, Faryal Talpur, will be his covering candidate. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who was seen changing his position in the last couple of days, finally endorsed Mr Zardari's papers, along with ANP Chief Asfandyar Wali as well as PPP dissident Makhdoom Amin Fahim. This occurred only a day after he expressed his disappointment over Mr Zardari's constant footdragging on his commitments and insisted that his party would review its cooperation with the PPP. Those who believed that the Maulana would stick to his stance must have been reading too much into his words.