ISLAMABAD, 17 March 2008 — Political parties were locked in intense consultations for the formation of a coalition government yesterday on the eve of the first National Assembly session when elected members are expected to take oath. The lower house of Parliament meets in Islamabad this morning.
In a new development, Pakistan People’s Party leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim canceled his scheduled meeting with Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif yesterday. Fahim, senior vice chairman of the PPP, called off his meetings with Sharif and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed yesterday.
Talking to Arab News, Fahim said he was scheduled to meet the two leaders in Lahore but had to cancel his meetings due to party engagements in Islamabad.
Members of the PPP parliamentary parties held meetings in Islamabad to discuss the future course of action.
The outgoing speaker of the National Assembly will swear in the newly elected lawmakers today. Parliament will only get down to the real business of lawmaking once the new government takes office later in the month.
The parties set to lead it, however, have already outlined a set of priorities that will make for uncomfortable news to Musharraf and his Western backers.
The party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto won the most seats in the election. It plans to form a coalition with the party of another former premier, Nawaz Sharif, and a smaller party from the northwest — where Taleban-style militants pose an increasing threat.
Benazir’s party has said its top priority will be to seek a UN investigation into her death in a gun-and-suicide-bomb attack on Dec. 27. The coalition also hopes to amend the constitution to strip the president of his power to dissolve the country’s Parliament and to dismiss the prime minister. The coalition’s most explosive plan is the restoration of some 60 senior judges who were purged from the courts by Musharraf when he declared emergency rule last November. A push to return the judges to their posts is fraught with legal uncertainties, particularly if judges who were drafted after the emergency join Musharraf in resisting.
English daily The News reported yesterday, “If judges are reinstated by the next assembly, President Musharraf will be left with no option but to quit.”
But one of Musharraf’s close aide Rashid Qureshi said, “President Musharraf has been elected for five years.”
Meanwhile, it was confirmed yesterday that Director General of Intelligence Bureau retired Brig. Ijaz Shah had sent his resignation to the presidency asking to be relieved of his duties.
Petrol Price Increased
The government ordered a sharp increase in petrol and diesel prices for the second time this month, in order to reduce subsidies that have become financially crippling because of soaring world oil prices.
A 7 percent increase came into effect yesterday, following a 10.7 percent hike on March 1. Despite a steep rise in crude and petroleum product prices on the world market, the government had avoided raising domestic prices for 22 months. — With input from agencies
