Search the Internet          Tips

Musharraf defers convening of National Assembly by a week

K J M Varma in Islamabad

In a surprise move, President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday night deferred the convening of the newly elected National Assembly to be held on Friday by a week, a day after hardline religious and secular parties opposed to him agreed on an alliance to form a government.

State-run Pakistan Television announced that a Cabinet meeting presided over by Musharraf in response to the appeals made by some political parties due to their failure to clinch a viable coalition government decided to postpone the session by a week.

New dates for the session would be announced later, it said.

A six-member coalition of pro-Taliban Islamic parties and former premier Benazir Bhutto's PPPP on Tuesday decided to form an alliance in their bid to form a government.

An official statement later said Musharraf has informed the Cabinet that the government had noted the suggestions made by certain political leaders for postponement of the first session of the National Assembly to facilitate consultations and discussions among them for formation of an elected government.

He said the government was keen the country got a stable democratic government and would give due consideration to every suggestion that helps achieve this objective.

According to the statement Musharraf made it clear that the government would like an early convening of the National Assembly and there was, therefore, no question of an indefinite postponement as has been reported in a section of the media.

The opposition PPPP strongly criticised the postponement of the session. "We are deeply concerned by this announcement to postpone the session. Our party has already called for the immediate convening of the National Assembly," Frataullah Babar, spokesman of the party, said.

The appeal to postpone the session was made by the pro-government Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid-e-Azam, which emerged as the largest group, but failed to secure majority to form the government.

The plea by PML-Q as well as Wednesday's decision by Musharraf has followed reports of hectic efforts by the Muthahida Majlis-e-Amal hardline religious parties and the PPPP to clinch a deal to form the government.

Despite a number of closed-door meetings the MMA-ARD alliance has not announced the names of their candidates for the posts of the prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker.

Media reports said the Musharraf government held secret parleys with Bhutto's jailed husband, Asif Ali Zardari to clinch a deal to form a PPPP-PML-Q government.

The appeals for postponement has drawn angry reaction from chief of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, who was holding the negotiations for MMA-ARD coalition.

Tell us what you think of this report