The announcement by the Islamist party Jamiat Ulema Islam
leaves the coalition with just a small majority in the National Assembly and
threatens the stability of the weak civilian government whose cooperation is
critical to America’s efforts in neighboring Afghanistan.
JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman said his party was
leaving because one of its ministers was fired after a scandal involving
government organized pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia.
“JUI is leaving the government from today ... our decision
is final,” Rehman said.
That will leave President Asif Ali Zardari’s government with
less leverage to push through key legislation. The JUI, for instance, said it
will oppose a plan to pass a new sales tax that the government says would bring
much needed revenue to the cash-strapped nation.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani fired two members of the
Cabinet on Tuesday over the pilgrimage scandal. One was the religious affairs
minister and the other, a member of JUI heading the ministry for science and
technology.
Azam Khan Swati of the JUI accused Religious Affairs
Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi of corruption in the cases of the pilgrimages,
sparking a federal investigation.
Gilani asked the two to cease their bickering, and then
fired both, angering the JUI.
