AMIN FAHEEM: WAITING QUIETLY TO BE CHOSEN PM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 000898



SIPDIS



SIPDIS



E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2018

TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, PK

SUBJECT: AMIN FAHEEM: WAITING QUIETLY TO BE CHOSEN PM



REF: ISLAMABAD 505



Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, for reasons 1.4 (b)(d)



1. (C) Summary. Pakistan People's Party (PPP) candidate

for Prime Minister Amin Faheem told Ambassador February 27

that the coalition with Nawaz Sharif remained "very fragile."

In Faheem's view, if Nawaz decides not to join the

coalition, the PPP would be free to approach Musharraf's

party. But he argued for time to conclude negotiations and

predicted there would be a government by the middle of March.

Faheem confirmed ongoing PPP coalition talks with Fazlur

Rehman's religious party and the Muttahida Quami Movement

(MQM) that controls Karachi. If chosen as the PM, Faheem

pledged to sit down with Ambassador to review, issue by

issue, how he could work with the USG on a shared agenda of

fighting terrorism and improving the economy. Rumors

continue to swirl about Zardari's interest in other

candidates, who would be more pliable and have less party

support. End Summary.



2. (C) Ambassador and Polcouns met February 28 with

Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Vice President Amin Faheem.

PPP Senator Enver Baig also attended the meeting.



3. (C) Faheem said he was quietly waiting for the PPP to

name its choice for Prime Minister. He dismissed as "the

usual speculation" reports that others in the party were

vying for the position or that there was growing Sindh-Punjab

animosity within the PPP. Faheem recounted a story in which

Benazir Bhutto in Dubai years ago had told him that if she

could not become PM, then her choice was that Faheem be

named. But Faheem appeared unaware of exactly when the PPP

would actually make a decision, saying that "probably by

March 15 we will know."



4. (C) Several times in the conversation, Faheem assured

Ambassador that he wanted to work hand-in-hand with the U.S.

"Once the announcement about the PM choice is made, I want to

sit down with you and review, issue by issue, how we can work

together," pledged Faheem. He said his top priorities would

be to fight terrorism and improve the economy. Ambassador

said we appreciated Faheem's offer; the Pakistani people had

chosen the PPP to rule, and we wanted to help the PPP govern

effectively.



5. (C) If he was asked to form a government, Faheem said he

wanted to control the Interior, Foreign Affairs and Finance

portfolios. Baig said that, this time, it would also be

important to control Defense as it was a PPP goal to impose

civilian control over the military. It would be important,

Baig suggested, to choose a civilian acceptable to the

military. Baig noted that the parliament is only allowed to

see a single line item for the military's budget and was

never briefed by Musharraf's government on efforts to fight

terrorism.



6. (C) The PPP's agreement to form a coalition with Nawaz

Sharif, said Faheem, remained "very fragile." Nawaz

continues to insist that he will not join the cabinet, but

Faheem cautioned that this would not be acceptable to the

PPP. "He must come into the government and take

responsibility for our joint decisions," said Faheem. This

may take some more time to work out, he cautioned. Asked

what would happen if Nawaz at the end of the day refused to

join the PPP, Faheem said simply "then we will have tried and

can approach the other (Musharraf's party)." He noted that

this had been Benazir Bhutto's original plan.



7. (C) Differences between Nawaz and the PPP remain,

particularly over the issue of restoring the judiciary and

the impeachment of Musharraf. Faheem confirmed his earlier

view (reftel) that he did not support Musharraf's

impeachment, saying "we must look forward and work on the

real problems of terrorism and the economy." Reiterating

what we have heard from other PPP leaders, Faheem said the

PPP's goal is to refer the judiciary issue to the parliament.

"We do not need discord and unrest; we have convinced the

lawyers' group to back down from a grand march on this issue.

We need time to work through the problem." Faheem said

that, like Bhutto, he did not support restoring the former

Chief Justice to the bench.





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8. (C) Faheem supported the idea of forming a national

unity government and confirmed that the PPP was in

discussions with the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) on a

coalition for both the Sindh provincial government and the

national government. Speaking as a Sindhi, Faheem said the

PPP wanted to come to a deal with the MQM for the sake of

peace in the province. "They are giving us all sorts of

conditions now, but MQM wants to be part of the government,

so they will come around" said Faheem.



9. (C) Faheem noted that he and PPP Co-Chair Asif Zardari

met February 27 with Fazlur Rehman, pragmatic leader of the

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) religious party. Fazlur, said

Faheem, is ready to work with us and has no preconditions.

(Note: JUI-F won 6 seats in the National Assembly on February

18--a decline from the 34 it won in 2002. Rehman had visions

of being a kingmaker and even prime minister and was poised

to join Musharraf's coalition before the PPP emerged as the

big electoral winner. In the press February 27, Fazlur

switched sides again and called for Musharraf's impeachment.)



10. (C) Comment: Faheem seemed stronger and more focused

than in past meetings. He exuded a quiet confidence and went

out of his way to provide assurances that he and the USG

could work together on a common agenda. Whether he will be

chosen to deliver on that pledge remains to be seen. Rumors

continue to swirl about Zardari's interest in alternative PM

choices.

PATTERSON