ISLAMABAD, 16 May 2008 — Media tycoon Suleman Taseer will be the next governor of Punjab.

Taseer, a nephew of poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, owns the Daily Times newspaper and Business Plus TV channel.

He began his career as a chartered accountant and joined the Pakistan People’s Party in 1978. He remained loyal to Benazir Bhutto.

Taseer was a member of the previous caretaker government. He will replace retired Lt. Gen. Khalid Maqbool as governor of Punjab.

The change is being seen as an attempt by the PPP to strengthen its hold on the populous Punjab province, which is the stronghold of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz. Taseer will be sworn in tomorrow.

The nomination papers of Sharif and his brother, who is a former chief minister of Punjab, were accepted by poll officials yesterday. Shahbaz Sharif will contest the Lahore provincial constituency PP-154 seat.

The returning officer also announced the acceptance of nomination papers of PML (N)’s Hamza Shahbaz and Zaeem Qadri, Muslim League (Q) candidate Akhlaq Guddu and independent candidates Noor Illahi, Riaz Gujjar and Ashraf Jahangir.

The papers of Supreme Court Bar Association President Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan and former federal Minister Sheikh Rashid were also found in order by the poll official.