Thursday, January 04, 2007

Wrath For Khan

By now, the only people who haven't heard about the upcoming federal cabinet shuffle are the comatose and nomads wandering in the Gobi Desert.

So let's discuss some related news: the fate of Liberal MP/special Middle East affairs adviser Wajid Khan:

The strange, dual-political citizenship of Wajid Khan – the Liberal MP serving since last summer as "special adviser" to the Conservative prime minister on the Middle East and Afghanistan – may be coming to an end this week.

But whether Khan intends to stay as a Liberal or cross the floor to the Conservatives became more of a mystery yesterday when neither he nor the Prime Minister's Office wanted to answer any questions about the political future of the MP for Mississauga-Streetsville.

....

The mystery may not be allowed to last for too long, though. New Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion is due to sit down with Khan by the end of this week.

A spokesperson for Dion said yesterday that the discussion would include questions about the MP's future political allegiance.

"He is scheduled to come in and meet Stéphane later on this week. ... I'm sure it's something that will be addressed when they meet," said André Fortin, Dion's spokesperson.

Khan was named last August to be Harper's special adviser on the Middle East and Afghanistan, even though he reportedly made clear he'd serve the Tory PM while remaining part of the Liberal caucus.


Tapping the unique expertise of an opposition MP on a sensitive issue would seem to be a statesmanlike act; haven't we all been told ad nauseam that we want Parliament to play fewer partisan political games?

Apparently the Liberals haven't grasped the concept of MP as more than a mere partisan.

And so they're about to lose him to a party that does.

And a Muslim MP at that, in Al-Mississauga.

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