ISLAMABAD, May 13: While Senator Ishaq Dar has emerged as consensus choice to lead the economic team, the PML-N’s core leadership appeared to be divided over who should head the ministries of water and power and petroleum and natural resources — the key ministries that will determine the performance of the new government.

A party leader who attended a meeting of the PML-N’s core committee in Lahore on Sunday told Dawn that Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Khawaja Mohammad Asif had desired to be appointed as ministers for petroleum and water and power, respectively.

Since there was little discussion on the petroleum ministry it was unclear if Chaudhry Nisar, a two-time petroleum minister, could ultimately be given the choice portfolio.

There was explicit opposition to Khwaja Asif’s nomination for the post of water and power minister.

A few voices pointed out that the selection of Khawaja Mohammad Naeem on the recommendations of Khawaja Asif (the two Khawajas are close relatives) as Punjab’s member of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority had not gone well because he had not been able to deliver.

There is a possibility that the two ministries are merged and given to one energetic and bold parliamentarian who is capable of steering the country out of the chronic power crisis because the PML-N’s top leadership believed the major reason behind PPP’s defeat in the May 11 elections was widespread loadshedding and its inability to provide relief to consumers.

Given this challenge, the party then considered Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Ahsan Iqbal.

Mr Abbasi, a businessman, former minister for commerce and chief executive of Airblue, is an electrical engineer, educated in the United States, and had given up his PhD in power distribution and transmission because of some problems in the family.

As head of a sub-committee of the special energy committee of the National Assembly, he had prepared a report on the power crisis and submitted recommendations to the PPP government for resolution of the issue.

Mr Iqbal has got his mechanical engineer’s degree from the Lahore University of Technology and done his master’s in business administration from the United States. A former deputy chairman of the planning commission and education minister, Mr Iqbal has headed a think tank of the Pakistan Engineering Council on power sector problems for quite some time.

“There is a tough competition between the two engineers for the challenging job of power minister and it would go to one who is considered by the party leadership as a bold and active administrator and a strong performance-oriented person,” said the PML-N leader.