ISLAMABAD, 16 March 2008 — The National Accountability Bureau yesterday withdrew corruption cases involving 72 million rupees against Pakistan People's Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and murdered former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
The chief prosecutor of the bureau and Attorney General Malik Qayyum have written letters to the Swiss government and a Swiss court, before which corruption cases concerning the two are pending, saying that the Pakistan government will not follow up these cases.
The development came as PPP spokesman Rehman Malik said the party would name its choice for prime minister next week. He told Arab News that Parliament would ratify the PPP choice after the announcement.
The Parliament convenes tomorrow, when the newly elected members of the National Assembly will take oath. Politicking in the capital reached fever pitch yesterday with major players holding last-minute consultations. Most of the new members of Parliament have already arrived here for the inaugural session.
The Pakistan People's Party, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Awami National Party (ANP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) will likely announce a coalition government ahead of the Parliament session.
The PPP is holding consultations within the party over the names of speaker and deputy speaker. According to party sources, if the prime minister is a person from the most populous province of Punjab, the offices of speaker and deputy speaker would go to Sindh and the North West Frontier Province respectively.
