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                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
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                        <description>The Express Tribune keeps you up to date with all the latest happenings from Pakistan and across the world!</description>
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			<title>The president’s strategy — II</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/136237/the-president%e2%80%99s-strategy-%e2%80%94-ii</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/136237/the-president%e2%80%99s-strategy-%e2%80%94-ii#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 22 Mar 11 17:17:34 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[zafar.hilaly]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=136237</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[In dealing with the Supreme Court, Mr Zardari has always held aloft the Sindh card.]]>
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				<![CDATA[According to those who claim Mr Zardari is unrivalled, the PPP has two principal political adversaries — the MQM and the PML-N — and one hostile institution, the Supreme Court. The goal is to weaken both and tame the Court. As for the tactics to be employed these can best be described as ‘whatever it takes’.

In Karachi, by using tactics hitherto associated with the MQM against the MQM, some gains are being made. PPP surrogates have befriended assorted groups, penetrated others and pitted them against each other. In Lyari a fairly toxic concoction comprising Baloch drug smugglers, Kutchi criminals and Aman Committee members are being patronised by the party and, off and on, by the PPP-led police. In other areas, Pashtun and Baloch groups are being encouraged to challenge the MQM’s grip. The idea eventually is to weaken the MQM’s stranglehold on Karachi so that elections will not produce the kind of MQM majorities that have been witnessed in the past. But for this to happen elections will have to be preceded by fresh delimitation of constituencies and giving the Pashtun inhabitants of Karachi more representation in the provincial assembly. New voter lists to replace existing ones, new rules governing, monitoring and supervision of polling stations and vote counting and, above all, a reconstituted Election Commission are apparently in the works.

In rural Sindh, the stronger the MQM becomes the larger and more fervent will be rural Sindhi support for the PPP. But this may be wishful thinking on the part of the PPP, considering that independent and smaller party candidates lost a host of seats to the PPP in 2008 by wafer-thin margins, notwithstanding the sympathy vote for Benazir. As for the PML-N, the PPP goal is to restrict its support to a thin band of constituencies in central Punjab. The PPP initiative for a separate Seraiki province underscores this approach and so, too, the new alliance of anti-PML-N forces.

In dealing with the Supreme Court, Mr Zardari has always held aloft the Sindh card. His willingness to play the card was demonstrated earlier by the ‘topi day’ demonstrations and, more recently, by the provincial PPP’s call for a strike against the Supreme Court’s decision to remove the chairman of NAB, Deedar Hussain Shah, a former judge from Sindh. The call for a strike against the decisions of a federal institution by the provincial branch of the ruling party at the centre is a first even in our chaotic political history. Mr Zardari knows that his is a high-stakes game and a dangerous one. However, he believes that unless he can show that he will go to the brink, he won’t be taken seriously. In any case, rather than go quietly, he prefers to go as a martyr. So, in this respect, at least, the husband has a right to claim as much courage as his wife, however manifold are the other differences separating them.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23rd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Frantic efforts on to fend off protest</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/136017/frantic-efforts-on-to-fend-off-protest</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/136017/frantic-efforts-on-to-fend-off-protest#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 22 Mar 11 02:33:28 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=136017</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[President Asif Ali Zardari likely to unveil national agenda today.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[A nervy government on Monday maneuvered to win over a hostile opposition threatening to ‘disrupt’ President Asif Ali Zardari’s annual address to a joint sitting of parliament but there was hardly any breakthrough. 

In an effort to persuade the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) President Zardari telephoned the party’s supremo Nawaz Sharif, who is in London for medical treatment.

A brief statement issued by the president’s media office did not say what transpired in the Monday night telephonic conversation. “President Asif Ali Zardari telephoned Nawaz Sharif in London a short while ago and enquired about his health,” the statement said.

However, insiders said the two leaders also discussed the president’s scheduled address to the joint sitting of the National Assembly and the Senate. It is unclear whether or not Sharif committed anything to President Zardari.

Separately, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani chaired a meeting of the parliamentary leaders of the coalition partners, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which until Sunday was indecisive on whether or not to attend the session.

Gilani told the participants that the president’s address was a manifestation of the fact that democratic norms were gaining strength in the country.

“It’s unfortunate that the president did not address a joint sitting of parliament in nine years during the previous regime, though it’s a constitutional requirement,” he added.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Minister for Food and Agriculture Israrul lah Zehri (BNP), Leader of House in Senate Syed Nayyer Hus sain Bokhari, Senator Shahid Hussain Bugti (JWP), Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel (ANP), Engineer Malik Rashid Ahmed Khan (FATA), and MNAs Asfandyar Wali (ANP), Dr Farooq Sattar (MQM), Jahangir Khan Tareen (PML-F), Sajid Hussain Turi (FATA) and Yaqoob Bizanjo (BNP-A).

According to officials, the prime minister also contacted key opposition leaders but the outcome was not known immediately. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, spoke to leaders of the PML-Q, JUI-F and some smaller opposition parties and invited them for a joint parliamentary party meeting before the start of the session.

PML-N’s information secretary Ahsan Iqbal told The Express Tribune that his party would announce its strategy after the parliamentary party meeting. He conceded difference of opinion in his party on the matter: some members want the party to boycott the session, while others favour registering protest inside parliament. However, Iqbal said that Chaudhry Nisar is contacting other opposition parties in an effort to formulate a joint strategy. Sources said the PML-N parliamentary party is also divided on how to protest during the session. One group, led by Khawaja Saad Rafique, suggests that the party should not disturb the proceedings, while another group, which is considered to be close to Chaudhry Nisar, says that the party should continue sloganeering and desk-thumping throughout the president's speech.

Chaudhry Nisar has yet not decided which group he should throw his weight behind.
However, sources said that senior PML-N leaders have decided in principle to not allow smooth sailing for Zardari.

The Maulana Fazlur Rehman-led Jamiat Ulema-eIslam has decided to follow the main opposition party on the matter.

On the other hand, PML-Q, which had decided on Sunday to boycott the session, has softened its stance following a meeting with a government team on Monday. Federal Ministers Syed Naveed Qamar and Khurshid Shah met the PML-Q leadership and requested them to attend the session. Though the PML-Q leadership has publicly refused to commit anything, sources said that the party seems to have softened its stance.

The PML-Q is the third largest party in the National Assembly and the second largest in the Senate. If it joins hands with the PML-N to launch a protest, they can give a tough time to the government. Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza directed the authorities to make sure that former religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi attends the joint sitting of parliament.

Officials in the interior ministry confirmed to have received a production order from Mirza's office and said that Kazmi, who is currently in the FIA custody for his alleged involvement in the Hajj corruption case, would be taken to parliament to attend the session.

With additional reporting by Irfan Ghauri in Islamabad and Abdul Manan in Lahore

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>If killings don’t stop, the president has failed: MQM</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/135735/if-killings-don%e2%80%99t-stop-the-president-has-failed-mqm</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/135735/if-killings-don%e2%80%99t-stop-the-president-has-failed-mqm#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 21 Mar 11 02:39:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[irfan.aligi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=135735</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[As 16 more people shot dead in Karachi, Farooq Sattar says party can only take so much.]]>
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				<![CDATA[After three more Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers were killed on Sunday, the party held a stinging press conference to declare that the violence challenged the writ of the president who had promised to tackle lawlessness in Pakistan’s largest city.


The sharply worded criticism led the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party to galvanise into action, with Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah ordering the police and paramilitary units to begin cracking down against the violence. It remains to be seen whether the PPP’s actions will be enough to assuage the MQM, which made no secret of its anger on Sunday.

“The MQM had submitted proof to the president on the political patronisation of criminals so now it is his responsibility to ensure action is taken,” said the party’s deputy convener Dr Farooq Sattar at a press conference in Karachi on Sunday evening. “Failing to control the lawlessness would mean that the president has also failed.”

Even during the press conference reports filtered in of more killings. Earlier in the day, hand grenades were lobbed at two of the party’s unit offices. The first office was closed and in the second attack the explosive did not go off. No one was hurt as a result.

While target killings in drive-by shootings have plagued Karachi for years now, this recent spell started ten days ago when a protest took place against a Supreme Court decision to declare invalid the PPP’s appointment of a top bureaucrat. Nearly 16 people have been killed since then.

Sattar remarked that if the president is in the city, the escalation in violence is tantamount to a challenge to his presence and the writ of his government. He said that the president had assured the MQM that the criminals would be dealt with but he has not been able to deliver.

“The MQM’s policy of toleration and forbearance should not be misconstrued as its weakness,” said Sattar. “The government and the people at the helm of affairs must take heed and do something to control the situation.”

The MQM has ordered two ministers, Raza Haroon and Dr Sagheer Ahmed Siddiqui, to concentrate on the day-to-day affairs of the committee put together by the president during his previous visit. However, in order to be effective, the committee needs all of its members to participate. Before Sunday, PPP members of the committee had not been available.

On Sunday, however, Haroon and Siddiqui met with Sindh Local Bodies Minister Agha Siraj Durrani at the chief minister’s mansion in Karachi to put together a joint proposal for tackling the problem of target killing in the metropolis.

The MQM had handed over its recommendations to Durrani who suggested that the proposals be made jointly to the chief minister. The MQM leaders said that they expected the government to begin taking action within 24 hours in order for their demands to be satisfied.

In an apparent response to the criticisms aimed directly at him, President Asif Ali Zardari telephoned the Sindh chief minister to discuss the law and order situation in Karachi.

The chief minister asked the police to provide him with details of the victims of target killing. He also asked the Sindh Police inspector general and the director general of the Rangers to increase patrols in the city and arrest those suspected to be involved in the killings.

Meanwhile, MQM’s Waseem Aftab said that home minister, Zulfiqar Mirza, was directly involved in the ongoing killings.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Ministerial posts: MQM poised to rejoin cabinet in next expansion</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/135234/ministerial-posts-mqm-poised-to-rejoin-cabinet-in-next-expansion</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/135234/ministerial-posts-mqm-poised-to-rejoin-cabinet-in-next-expansion#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 20 Mar 11 03:58:38 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[irfan.ghauri]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=135234</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[MQM signals its willingness to rejoin the federal government when the cabinet is expanded sometime late next week.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[After its recent patch-up with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, the Mutahida Qaumi Movement signalled its willingness to rejoin the federal government when the cabinet is expanded sometime late next week.


Sources in both parties confirmed that the MQM has agreed in principle to rejoin the federal cabinet provided PPP addresses its remaining concerns.  One of the major demands made by the MQM about action against Peoples Aman Committee has already been met.

The MQM is also demanding a reshuffle in the Sindh cabinet before the next phase of federal cabinet expansion. It wants local government ministry, which is currently being held by Agha Siraj Durrani, said to be a close associate of President Asif Ali Zardari.

The MQM also wants the removal of Zulfiqar Mirza as the provincial home minister. This is, sources said, a bit tough for the PPP to accept.

If both parties succeeded in resolving bilateral issues amicably, the PPP may initially offer two key ministries and some additional portfolios to the MQM. Sources said MQM’s Babar Ghauri was likely to retain his previous portfolio as the minister for ports and shipping.

Another lucrative ministry, the ministry of housing is most likely to go to Dr Farooq Sattar, who is MQM’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly.

Source said that the government had earlier planned to carry out the cabinet expansion in the first week of March but delayed the plan because of its continuing parleys with the MQM, whose support is vital for the prime minister to retain a simple majority in the National Assembly.

Since the two parties formed an alliance after the 2008 elections, relations between the PPP and the MQM witnessed many ups and downs. The PPP leadership is learnt to have been ready to welcome either of the two PML-Q factions in case it really had to let the MQM go as a political ally.

Earlier, the president held a meeting with the Chaudhrys of Gujraat, who lead the main faction of the PML-Q. PML-Q leaders later claimed that the meeting had nothing to do with joining the government, but political observers viewed the move a smart one on the part of the president in a bid to convey a clear message to the MQM that he still holds many cards close to his chest.

This time around, it is learnt, the PPP wants to accommodate some key ministers who were dropped. There is also a possibility that a few new faces can also make their way into the new cabinet.

Among those likely to get cabinet posts are: Qamar Zaman Kaira, the former information minister, Raja Pervez Ashraf, former minister for water and power and Nazar Gondal, the former agriculture minister.

The PPP is also likely to take at least one minister each from Sindh and Balochistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Sindh Assembly: Treasury benches fill up after MQM and PPP patch up</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/133578/sindh-assembly-treasury-benches-fill-up-after-mqm-and-ppp-patch-up</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/133578/sindh-assembly-treasury-benches-fill-up-after-mqm-and-ppp-patch-up#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 17 Mar 11 03:51:50 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Hafeez Tunio]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=133578</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Nine-day boycott ends as MQM legislators return to the Sindh Assembly session.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A nine-day boycott ended on Wednesday when Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) legislators returned to the Sindh Assembly session after burying their differences with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).


On the rather joyous occasion, legislators passed a resolution to congratulate and acknowledge the struggle of President Asif Ali Zardari and Altaf Hussan to “unite the people of Sindh”. The resolution was moved by PPP’s Bachal Shah who called the patch-up “a new chapter in the history of Sindh”.

Teacher protests

Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq told the house that the Sindh Professor and Lecturers Association (SPLA) protested in an effort to win voter sympathy. The SPLA has split and its election is around the corner. The SPLA had tried marching from DJ Science College to Chief Minister House on Tuesday to demand promotions and pay-scale increases but were beaten back by batons, tear-gas and water cannons. An identical protest and police reaction took place in November last year.

The education minister said that SPLA’s demands were met when 2,200 lecturers and professors were promoted. He said that as the SPLA was not a union, but a welfare organisation of the teaching staff of colleges it could not protest like this. The education department has sent a summary to the chief minister to provide time-scale promotions. Meanwhile, Haq suggested that a house committee look into the ‘ghost lecturers and professors’ who prefer to run their private tuition centres rather than teaching at colleges. If they continued, we will have no choice but to fire these ghost teachers who will be replaced by ad-hoc lecturers, he said.

Hyderabad prison operation

Legislators demanded an inquiry into the Hyderabad jail operation in which seven prisoners were killed and more than 40 were injured. As the session started with Nisar Khuhro in chair, PPP MPA Ghulam Qadir Chandio drew the attention of the house towards the incident. “We fail to understand who provides mobile phones, weapons and drugs to prisoners,” he said. The speaker said that Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza should answer, rightly so, as he had the additional portfolio of jails. But Mirza was not present.

Qamar David’s death

Minority MPA Saleem Khurshid Khokhar demanded a judicial inquiry into the alleged murder of Qamar David, a Christian under-trial prisoner accused in two blasphemy cases. David died on Tuesday after being taken to Civil hospital from Central Jail, Karachi. According to Khokhar, he did not die of a heart attack but was murdered.

Fake appointments 

PPP MPA Mir Hassan Khoso said the Jacobabad administration has issued fake appointment orders and adjusted more than a dozen people in different departments. “I have brought the order of the health department along with me. I want to know who gave these people jobs without fulfilling any criterion.” As Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed was not present, MQM MPA Muhammad Ali Shah assured him that an impartial inquiry would be conducted.

Peacock hunting

Bilqees Mukhtiar of the MQM raised the hunting of peacocks in Thar. She said that some ‘influential’ people have started the hunting with the help of the local administration. Wildlife Minister Dr Dayaram Essarani assured her that action will be taken after an inquiry.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Defamation charges: Mirza files privilege motion against Jang Group</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/132852/mirza-moves-privilege-motion-against-english-daily</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/132852/mirza-moves-privilege-motion-against-english-daily#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 16 Mar 11 04:08:50 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Hafeez Tunio]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=132852</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[MIrza says the false news report published by the group breached his privilege as MPA.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza submitted a privilege motion against the English and Urdu dailies of Jang Group, The News and Daily Jang for publishing a news story titled “Mirza to be shown the door in 12 days”.


In his resolution, Mirza said that “The report gives credit to the delay in my removal to my wife, Dr Fehmida Mirza, who is the speaker of the national assembly and has repeatedly said that my immediate removal would be insulting for our family.”

He said that the report has defamed him and his family and breached his privilege as a member of the assembly. “I hold the publisher of the newspapers and the editor of the news desk accountable for this breach of my privilege and request that they be summoned to the Standing Committee of the Sindh Assembly on Rules and Privileges to disclose the sources,” he maintained.

In a very emotional speech, Mirza said that Jang Group had started a campaign against him after he refused to give incentives to the publisher.

“He sent me a request through a reporter of his group asking if I could help him in the allotment of a plot worth Rs200 million, but I refused. Later, the anchors and reporters of his television channel and newspapers launched a campaign against me,” he said.

He said that the owner of Jang Group evaded taxes, and was using different tactics to blackmail the government. During Mirza’s speech, members of the PPP thumped their desks chanting “shame, shame”.

Warning the owner of Jang Group, Mirza said, “If he does not stop publishing fabricated stories against me and other party leaders, than I will disclose the secrets of the publisher from the time he was studying at Saint Patrick’s School,” he said.

He further said, “There are reports that I am an incompetent minister, but I want to clarify here that I would prefer to work as a worker of the party and will step down in a second, if asked to do so. I don’t belong to the Makhdooms of Multan who stick to their portfolios,”
he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Written promises mark PPP-MQM rapprochement</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/133240/written-promises-mark-ppp-mqm-rapprochement</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/133240/written-promises-mark-ppp-mqm-rapprochement#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 16 Mar 11 02:45:55 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=133240</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Includes formation of a committee to monitor law and order situation.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The Pakistan Peoples Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement finally patched up their differences on Tuesday night, as the two parties drafted a detailed understanding seeking to tackle the law and order situation in Karachi.


Interior Minister Rehman Malik also announced a crackdown on the Peoples Amn Committee along with other criminal elements functioning in the city. Malik, flanked by leaders of both parties, told a press conference at the Governor House after midnight that the government had decided to ban the PAC and would seal its offices, as well as the offices of organisations that support Baloch insurgent groups and “all other criminal gangs”, in Karachi.

Malik said the president had set up a committee under Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to monitor the law and order situation. The committee is to meet once a week to come up with suggestions on how to curb extortion, kidnapping and other serious crimes, and then submit its advice to the chief minister within two weeks. The chief minister would then initiate action.

He added that the two parties had also resolved not to make any negative statements about each other in the press.

Dr Farooq Sattar, deputy convener of the MQM coordination committee, said the party was calling off its boycott of the Sindh Assembly and ties with the PPP were restored.

The reconciliation came after an exhaustive series of contacts between the two sides that began shortly after Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza set off their latest tiff on March 6 with his declaration that the PAC, which is accused of extortion, kidnapping and murder in Karachi, was an affiliate of the PPP.

The MQM reacted angrily and threatened to withdraw from the provincial government coalition. The party’s anger at Mirza’s comments was finally soothed last night, the announcement of a reconciliation coming after various high-level meetings, the last between President Asif Ali Zardari and an MQM delegation at Bilawal House on Tuesday.

The MQM delegation was led by Dr Sattar and included Babar Khan Ghauri, Raza Haroon, Dr Sagheer Ahmed Siddiqui, Syed Sardar Ahmed, Waseem Aftab and Adil Siddiqui. Rehman Malik, Qaim Ali Shah, Aga Siraj Durrani and presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar assisted the president in the talks.

They decided at the meeting to announce their patch-up at Governor’s House. Malik said that it was important in this time, while the country was at war with terrorists, that its political leaders acted wisely and resolved issues through dialogue. He said this was what the two parties had done. He said that the president and the MQM chief resolved not to allow democracy to be derailed.

Governor Ishratul Ibad said that dialogue was the only way to resolve disputes between coalition partners.

Chief Minister Shah that the restoration of the PPP-MQM relationship would benefit all Pakistanis and the people of Sindh, but especially Karachi. He said the government would take action against criminals irrespective of their political affiliations and the newly constituted committee would consult with the Sindh governor and the MQM.

Dr Sattar said that the reconciliation would promote peace and make democracy stronger in Pakistan. He said the public, but especially traders and businessmen, would welcome action against the PAC.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>PPP-MQM Coalition: Deadline expires, alliance survives</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/132745/ppp-mqm-coalition-deadline-expires-alliance-survives</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/132745/ppp-mqm-coalition-deadline-expires-alliance-survives#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 15 Mar 11 04:36:47 +0500</pubDate>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=132745</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[President successful in allaying MQM's concerns, most reservations addressed.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[After a week-long separation stint, the coalition partners Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) are back together, yet again.


Sindh governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Bilawal House late Monday evening, in a meeting termed “cordial” by the president’s spokesperson Farhatullah Babar.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who flew into Karachi Monday evening after meeting MQM chief Altaf Hussain in London, was also present at the meeting.

The participants reiterated the resolve that political reconciliation will continue for the sake of political stability, Babar said while addressing the post-meeting press briefing.

They also agreed that strict action will be taken against criminals, irrespective of political, religious or institutional affiliations, he added.

Earlier, Malik briefed the president on his meeting with the MQM chief in London.

Sources present at the meeting said the president was able to allay MQM’s concerns while most of their reservations have been addressed.

The commissioner system and the local bodies’ elections in the province were also discussed, even though no timeframe was mentioned at the meeting, sources added.

The breakthrough had already been made in London on Sunday, during Malik’s meeting with Hussain that was followed by the message that PPP-MQM alliance would continue, sources said.

A meeting between an MQM delegation and the president is likely on Tuesday, after which a joint statement by the coalition partners is expected, they added.

The MQM would also end boycotting sessions of the Senate, the National and provincial assemblies, sources added.

The recent rift between the two parties had emerged in reaction to an announcement by the Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiquar Mirza that People’s Amn Committee (PAC) is a subsidiary of the PPP.

The public admission prompted MQM to declare a review of its position as a coalition partner to the PPP. A week-long deadline that expired at midnight on Monday was set by the party for the PPP to renounce its patronage of the PAC.

While the government has yet to disown the PAC, sources say it has been able to tactfully maneuver the situation and keep the alliance with the MQM intact.

MQM hails judicial commission for loan recovery

The coordination committee (CC) of the MQM has warmly welcomed the suggestion by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to establish a commission for taking action against those who availed loans worth more than Rs100 million from the national exchequer, and had them written off.

The recovery of such loans, demanded consistently by the MQM chief, would help the anemic economy of the country, the committee added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Mending fences: Malik meets Altaf Hussain</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/132316/mending-fences-malik-meets-altaf-hussain</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/132316/mending-fences-malik-meets-altaf-hussain#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 14 Mar 11 02:49:33 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[irfan.aligi]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=132316</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Malik says both parties will jointly combat all internal and external challenged in the &quot;best national interest.&quot;]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[In a separate bid to mend fences, Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik met Muttahidda Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain in London on Sunday where he expressed the hope that the alliance between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the MQM would remain intact. He also said that both parties would jointly combat all internal and external challenges in the “best national interest.”


The meeting comes at a time when relations between the two sides are under a cloud. On Sunday, the Karachi chapter of the MQM’s Rabita Committee condemned the murder of an MQM activist, who was killed in the Ranchore Lines area by “members of a terrorist gang.”

In the London meeting, the MQM side comprised members of the Coordination Committee which included Muhammad Anwar, Tariq Mir, Anees Qaim Khani and Qasim Ali Raza. They apprised the interior minister of their party’s reservations.

Malik assured Altaf Hussain of conveying the details of the briefing to the president “as soon as he landed in Pakistan”. He said that the MQM was a “logical ally” of the government and it has proved itself  to be a reliable companion during testing times.

During the meeting which lasted well over three hours, Rehman Malik gave a briefing over the domestic situation, the situation in Balochistan, the assassination of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer and minorities affairs minister Shahbaz Bhatti, party sources said.

Rehman Malik is also reported to have told Altaf Hussain that the government was devising a “scientific strategy” to curb kidnapping for ransom and extortion in Sindh, especially Karachi.

Altaf Hussain lauded Malik for his role as a mediator and said that he personally respected him. Hussein also hoped that Malik would be able to use his skills in addressing MQM’s reservations.

Altaf Hussain also expressed his gratitude to Malik for calling upon him despite knowing that he was observing his father’s death anniversary. On the occasion, the meeting also offered prayers for Altaf Hussain’s father Nazeer Hussain.

In a related development, according to a statement issued Sunday, the MQM Rabita Committee urged the president and the prime minister to take notice of the murder of two of MQM’s activists in two days by the terrorists and end official patronage of the terrorists of the gang war.

Accusing a terrorist gang of holding the entire city hostage at gunpoint, the committee members said that insecurity was “so pervasive that no one, including traders, businessmen or shopkeepers, were immune from extortionists”.

On Sunday, an MQM activist was gunned down in Block 3 of Gulistan-e-Jauhar. The incident occurred near Kamran Chorangi where the victim identified was Umair Ali, 25. Station Head Officer Asif Jalhrani confirmed that the victim was an MQM worker.The body was later shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for legal formalities.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Zardari phones Sharif to ease tension</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/132315/zardari-phones-sharif-to-ease-tension</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/132315/zardari-phones-sharif-to-ease-tension#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 14 Mar 11 02:41:48 +0500</pubDate>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=132315</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The president’s call came on a day when there was another sparring match between the PPP and the PML-N.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[After a fortnight of chaos on the national political arena and a day of verbal duels between the second tier leadership of their parties, President Asif Zardari and former premier Nawaz Sharif revived their long broken contact in a surprise development on Sunday.


President Zardari took the initiative when he called up Mian Nawaz Sharif who is currently in the UK looking after his ailing wife. President Zardari is in Karachi where he is trying to smooth relations with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

The president’s call came on a day when there was another sparring match between the second tier leadership of the  Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

In Islamabad, a close aide of the PML-N leader termed President Zardari a ‘bigger threat to the democracy than anything else.’

The remark, made by National Assembly Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, was replied to with an equally loaded accusation by a loyalist of President Zardari.

“The PML-N is involved in the ugly politics of using state institutions as a shield to achieve its objectives,” alleged Federal Law Minister Babar Awan in a clandestine reference to judicial activism and secret meetings between the top leaders of Sharif’s party and the military hierarchy.

Since their separation in Punjab last month, the relationship between the PPP and the PML-N has been in freefall with members from both sides attacking each other’s top leadership.

A handout statement issued by Zardari’s media office gave the impression that the call was an apolitical interaction and the president called to inquire about the health of the PML-N leader’s wife.

“The president prayed for the early and full recovery of the wife of Mian Nawaz Sharif. The PML-N Quaid thanked him for his gesture,” a brief statement added.

A more detailed statement issued by the PML-N’s media office in Islamabad said that the president had also invited Sharif for a meeting upon the former premier’s return from London in a week or so.

However, according to the statement, Sharif did not promise Zardari a meeting right away, saying that he “might consider it” after his return to Pakistan.

Some misgivings, however, between the two might have been removed.

According to the statement, President Zardari clarified to Sharif that he did not blame the former premier for a bizarre incident in which his (Zardari’s) tongue was cut during a police interrogation in the 90s.

A leading English-language daily on Sunday reported that Zardari had told his loyalists that he had not forgiven Sharif for ordering the police to cut his tongue during detention.

The PML-N statement said that Sharif reminded the president that he had constantly been giving advice on how steer the country out of crisis but complained that his suggestions were not heeded.

Sharif also informed Zardari that he never expressed confidence in Justice (Retd) Deedar Hussain Shah in 2000-01. “My lawyer might have said this. I didn’t,” Sharif added, according to the statement.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>MQM's meeting with president cancelled</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/131933/ppp-eyes-alliance-with-pml-q-struggles-to-appease-mqm</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/131933/ppp-eyes-alliance-with-pml-q-struggles-to-appease-mqm#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 12 Mar 11 21:00:08 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=131933</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PPP lawmakers in Sindh give their mandate to President Zardari to negotiate with PML-Q to forge an alliance.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A delegation of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was scheduled to meet President Asif Ali Zardari at Bilawal House in Karachi today (Sunday) however the meeting has been cancelled.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leadership and Governor Ishratul Ibad were supposed to attend the meeting which was scheduled amidst MQM's boycott of the Sindh Assembly, Senate and National Assembly sessions to protest against certain statements issued by Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza.

Updated from print edition (below)

PPP eyes alliance with PML-Q, struggles to appease MQM

While neither the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) nor its estranged ally Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) seem ready to budge from their respective stances ahead of a crucial meeting scheduled for Sunday (today), PPP lawmakers in Sindh have given their mandate to President Asif Ali Zardari to negotiate with the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and forge an alliance with the party in the federal and Punjab governments.


The MQM has put forward tough conditions to remain in the alliance in Sindh, which the PPP says it cannot accept. However, even if the proposed meeting fails, the interaction between the two would continue, both sides say.

“Our position is clear. We have genuine concerns: PPP must disassociate itself from the Peoples Aman Committee. We will not accept anything short of this,” a parliamentarian from the MQM said while talking to The Express Tribune.

And while the MQM does not  publicly demand the removal of Dr Zulifiqar Mirza from the office of Sindh home minister, most of its concerns revolve around his statements and his alleged patronisation of people whom the MQM dubs as gangsters. The party wants, however, that the president remove Mirza from his office.

The fate of the proposed meeting seems increasingly uncertain, especially after the recent round of violence in Karachi.

The MQM said it has not received any confirmation from the Presidency for this meeting till late Saturday and, despite repeated attempts, there was no official confirmation of the proposed meeting till filing of this report.

A key PPP leader from Sindh, when asked to respond on MQM’s key demands, said none these could be acceptable to the party.

“They cannot dictate to us to this extent. Even if these demands are met, they would come up with a fresh set of demands. This is what has been going on for the last three years,” the PPP leader said, adding these were his personal views and not those of the party. MQM leader Wasay Jalil said there were a number of issues that would be discussed if the meeting takes place.

He said the outcome of the proposed meeting would determine the future relationship between the two parties.

When asked what would be the MQM’s line of action if this proposed meeting fails to yield any tangible results, he said “we would put everything before the Rabita Committee, since it’s the forum where the party takes every decision”.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who usually plays the interlocutor whenever relations between the parties reach a tipping point, is currently in London where he is expected to meet MQM chief Altaf Hussain in the coming days.

Politics of reconciliation

While the president ruled out any chances of parting ways with the MQM, he stressed on the need for working with all political forces, given the volatile political situation in the country.

“We are a political force and we have to remain in political mode,” the president said, while speaking to the parliamentary party of the assembly at the resident camp office, Bilawal House.

PPP lawmakers from Sindh backed the president’s proposal to go along with Chaudhry brothers-led PML-Q. The final decision will be taken at the Central Executive Committee meeting of the party.  There is no permanent enemy in politics and doors should always be open for reconciliation, sources in the party quoted President Zardari as saying.

“If we can work with people who attacked me in jail, what is the harm in forging an alliance with the PML-Q which is willing to work on a minimum agenda?” argued the president, sources added.

“We should not indulge in confrontation and follow a policy of reconciliation,” the president added.

The president also stressed the need to keep the alliance with the MQM intact, sources said, adding that Governor Sindh Dr Ishrat ul Ebad Khan, along with other MQM leaders, will meet the president and share their party’s concerns.

President Zardari also directed MPAs to avoid talking against the judiciary and issuing harsh statements during assembly sessions.

“I do not believe in taking action against individuals, because nothing changes just by removing anyone. We have to work together to strengthen our institutions,” he said.

He urged members of the assembly to interact with people in their constituencies, listen to their problems and try resolving them.

Admitting that no political force can deliver 100 per cent on their promises, he urged them to make their best efforts. He said he would be in Karachi for two more days and hold meetings on agriculture, education and power sector.

The president also directed the chief minister to form a political committee to discuss problems faced by the business community of the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>President to address Parliament on March 21</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/131462/president-to-address-parliament-on-march-21</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/131462/president-to-address-parliament-on-march-21#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 12 Mar 11 03:12:45 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=131462</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Zardari may face more hostile audience amid growing tensions between the government and opposition political parties.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[President Asif Zardari will deliver his annual address to Parliament later this month, amid growing tensions between the government and opposition political parties.


Federal Law Minister Babar Awan said that the government had set March 21 for the address that the president is constitutionally bound to deliver at the beginning of every parliamentary year. A one-day special joint session of both houses of Parliament — the National Assembly and the Senate — has been called for the occasion.

This will be President Zardari’s fourth and perhaps the toughest address to Parliament, considering the increase in hostility on the national political scene since he last addressed the legislature on April 5, 2010.

The most formidable of challenges facing the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) administration today is dealing with an increasingly independent judiciary that has been ‘very active’ in past couple of years.

Another challenge emanates from the resistance the government has recently been facing in implementing key economic decisions due to opposition not only by the opposition but also its coalition allies.

Political analysts believe that President Zardari would have come up with answers to the ‘toughest of questions’ confronting his party’s administration when he speaks before lawmakers, most of whom might not be ready to listen to him and may resort to noisy protests.

Fierce protest during presidential addresses to Parliament was one of the most consistent traditions of Pakistan’s politics in 1990s.

It was fears of a backlash from parliamentarians that kept former President Pervez Musharraf away from addressing them regularly, despite the fact that it violated a constitutional provision. Musharraf was able to address Parliament only once in his almost nine years rule.

For President Zardari, however, the first three addresses were very smooth as he hardly faced any protest at all, in keeping with the national political mood of the time which seemed desperate to avoid a repeat of the nasty political battles of the 1990s that ultimately led to a military coup in October 1999.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Peoples Amn Committee: I won’t say sorry, says Mirza</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/130513/mirza-says-he-does-not-need-to-apologise</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/130513/mirza-says-he-does-not-need-to-apologise#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Mar 11 19:35:45 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=130513</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The committee is a welfare organisation just like Edhi, the Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation and others.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[An unapologetic home minister has said that he did not make any mistake when giving a statement about the Peoples Amn Committee (PAC) in Lyari and that he stood by his words.


Dr Zulfiqar Mirza also ruled out the perception that Lyari was a “den” for criminals and that all people associated with the committee were criminals. He told the media after the Sindh Assembly session that it was the political right of any party to include anyone in its rank and file. “We also have serious reservations over different groups and people joining the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) but we have not asked them to dismiss them,” he said.

The committee is a welfare organisation just like Edhi, the Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation and others. It has brought about changes in Lyari and Malir where workers of the PPP have been serving the people and enjoying their trust, he said, adding said that the PAC is gaining its popularity with each passing day.

On another note, he said that he was responsible for the deteriorating law and order in the city. “We have conducted research with the CPLC and the crime in Lyari is lower than that of other towns,” he said.

According to the home minister, criminals exist in every party but that does not mean you blame the whole party. “The MQM claims to have expelled many criminal-minded people, so has the PPP,” he said.

He added, however, that he was not willing to go to the MQM headquarters for now but he could visit every nook and cranny of the province.

Earlier, as Mirza entered in the session at around 11:30 am, all PPP members chanted slogans in his favour and started thumping their desks. Deputy Speaker Shahla Raza repeatedly asked them to keep quiet. “You people are chanting slogans to appease Mirza, just to get your work done,” she said. Mirza stood up to speak but she did not give him permission, saying, “No, never, this is not the proper time for your speech. I will give you a chance later on.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>PPP leadership huddles before key MQM talks</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/130392/ppp-leadership-huddles-before-key-mqm-talks</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/130392/ppp-leadership-huddles-before-key-mqm-talks#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Mar 11 02:54:13 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[irfan.ghauri]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=130392</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Rehman Malik leaves for London in a bid to persuade MQM chief not to quit the coalition, Zardari promises action.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Key members of the Pakistan Peoples Party mandated the party’s negotiators to take “any decision in the best interest of the party” regarding their alliance with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).


A day after their crucial meeting with an MQM team, the leaders of the ruling party gathered here on Wednesday night to discuss the current political situation and pondered over the options available to the government.

President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the co-chairman of the PPP, had called the meeting to discuss with them the prospects of their alliance with the MQM and talks with the IMF.

Zardari had sought a week’s time from MQM to redress their grievances. The PPP and MQM are once again at odds after a recent statement by Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza.

MQM had threatened to quit the coalition in Sindh and sit on the opposition benches at the center if the PPP did not take concrete steps to address their reservations.

PPP leadership dispatched Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who had in the past played the role of a mediator  between the two parties on several sticky situations.

Malik is also scheduled to meet MQM chief Altaf Hussain in London in a bid to persuade him to remain a PPP ally. MQM sources said that the future of their coalition appeared to be “bleak”, adding that they were no longer ready to accept mere ‘guarantees’.

“This time, we want to see concrete actions. Promises and guarantees will not serve the purpose now,” an MQM leader told The Express Tribune.

“They (the PPP) have to choose between us (the MQM ) and the terrorists,” the MQM leader said, referring to his party’s stance on the so-called Peoples Aman Committee which Dr Mirza described as  a PPP subsidiary.

MQM accuses the outfit of being “a gang of extortionists”.

The Presidency, which appeared to be reluctant about issuing any public statement at this time, said as much that matters related to coalition partners were part of the agenda.

“Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani briefed the meeting about the overall law and order and the political situations with reference to the coalition matters,” Farhatullah Babar, the presidential spokesman said. Federal Minister for Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh briefed the meeting about the domestic economic situation and the progress on the ongoing talks with the IMF.

The finance minister is learnt to have told the party leadership that the government would now have to take “some tough economic decisions”, otherwise the economic situation would spiral out of hand.

Ministers, who attended the meeting included: Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan, Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan, Zaheeruddin Babar Awan and Makhdoom Amin Fahim among others.

‘Zardari promised tough action in a week’


President Asif Ali Zardari assured the MQM that their reservations will be addressed within a week and stern action will be taken against criminal elements no matter what their political affiliations.


This was stated by Deputy Convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Dr Farooq Sattar and parliamentary leader of the MQM in the Senate Babar Ghauri while talking to reporters on Wednesday after arriving from Islamabad where they met President Zardari.

According to a handout, a four-member MQM delegation, comprising Deputy Convener Dr Farooq Sattar, members Dr Sagheer Ahmed, Raza Haroon and parliamentary leader of the MQM in the Senate Babar Ghauri, met President Zardari at the President House. The delegation informed the president about the MQM’s strong reservations over the  statement of Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, it said.

Federal Minister for Interior Rehman Malik and spokesman for the president Farhatullah Babar also attended the meeting from the PPP side.

The meeting lasted more than three hours, it is learnt.

The MQM leaders informed the president about an increasing sense of insecurity in Karachi after proliferation of extortion by criminal elements, adding that criminals were not sparing anyone be it traders, businessmen, shopkeepers. “Even artistes were not immune from this crime,” they are reported to have told the president. ]

The MQM leaders also informed the president about people’s mounting concerns regarding the increasing incidents of robberies, killings and other criminal activities in Karachi.

The President heard MQM’s reservations with seriousness and expressed his concern over the unbridled criminal activities.

He promised that traders, businessmen, shopkeepers and artistes will be provided protection and criminal elements will be dealt with an iron fist. During the meeting, the President also contacted MQM chief Altaf Hussain over telephone and repeated his assurances.

He is said to have told
him that he will convene a meeting of provincial ministers of Sindh and other party leaders which will also be attended by Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan and Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah to remove MQM’s reservations.

MQM’s Co-ordination Committee has decided to persist on its principled stand until the party’s reservations are removed.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>President to address MQM's reservations: Sattar</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/129908/president-buys-time-after-hectic-talks-mqm-stays</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/129908/president-buys-time-after-hectic-talks-mqm-stays#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 09 Mar 11 02:14:25 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=129908</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Late night parleys end with promise of another meeting, action against Karachi criminals.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Farooq Sattar on Wednesday said that President Asif Ali Zardari has promised to address MQM’s reservations and take corrective measures.

Speaking to media at the airport after a meeting with the president to resolve differences, Sattar said criminals are kidnapping traders’ children and openly extorting them.

The MQM leader further informed that the president has scheduled another meeting, which is expected to include Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah as well.

Sattar also said that at the moment the country is in a fragile state and squabbling can have detrimental effects on the progress of the nation.

Updated from print edition (below)

President buys time: After hectic talks, MQM stays

The immediate threat to the government coalition seemed to have receded for now after President Asif Ali Zardari managed to assuage the concerns of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM),  assuring the key coalition partner that its reservations regarding the situation in Karachi would be handled at all levels.


After more than two hours of talks with an MQM delegation that lasted past midnight and included a telephone call to MQM chief Altaf Hussain in London, the president appeared to have calmed his coalition partner’s anger at comments made by Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza on Sunday night.

Zardari told the delegation that he would convene a meeting of the Sindh governor, chief minister and provincial leaders within a week to thrash out the issues raised by the MQM, according to a press release issued after the meeting.

However, there was no official word from the offices of the MQM regarding the talks till the filing of this report. Reports suggested that the MQM would continue with its stand of boycotting the Sindh Assembly and staying out of the coalition government in Sindh till the outcome of the upcoming talks.

The MQM had quit the provincial government after the Sindh home minister declared Lyari’s Peoples Amn Committee (PAC) an affiliate of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). The MQM characterises the PAC as a criminal gang that is behind extortion and kidnapping cases in Karachi.

“We conveyed to President Zardari that he must make a choice. The choice is between the so-called Peoples Amn Committee and the MQM,” an MQM leader who was part of his party’s delegation told The Express Tribune.

“He also assured [the delegation] that criminal elements will be curbed with an iron hand ... [and] that no criminal would be allowed to seek shelter behind a political façade of any sort,” said a press release from the President House.

The president is also quoted to have said that political forces should “guard against  elements seeking to drive a wedge between them and creating conditions of anarchy”.

The MQM delegation included Dr Farooq Sattar, Babar Ghauri, Raza Haroon and Dr Saghir Ahmed. Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Farhatullah Babar, the president’s spokesman, were also present.

While the delegation held talks with the president and his associates, the Rabita Committee of the MQM held simultaneous meetings in Karachi and London.

According to sources, the party’s leaders, including ministers in the Sindh cabinet, were summoned to Nine Zero while the Rabita Committee and the talks with the president were ongoing. The ministers had earlier submitted written resignations to the committee, in case the party decided to withdraw from the Sindh government.

Meanwhile, adding to the milieu of uncertainty while the talks at the President House were still ongoing, the chief minister and PPP ministers and senior leaders gathered at the residence of Sindh Local Government Minister Aga Siraj Durrani to discuss the developing political situation.

Rocky relationship

The MQM-PPP relationship has seen many hiccups since they joined hands in the centre and Sindh. At one point the MQM quit the coalition government in Islamabad and decided to sit on the opposition benches, leaving Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s government without a simple majority in the National Assembly.

But after hectic deliberations and the intervention of their top leaderships, the MQM rescinded its decision to sit on the opposition benches, though its ministers declined to return to the federal cabinet.

Their coalition in Sindh appeared to be at risk after the minister’s comments on Sunday night. Sources in the PPP said the president had told the minister not to further antagonise the MQM and stop making political statements.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Amn Committee: ‘We’ve been with PPP for a long time’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/129341/amn-committee-%e2%80%98we%e2%80%99ve-been-with-ppp-for-a-long-time%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/129341/amn-committee-%e2%80%98we%e2%80%99ve-been-with-ppp-for-a-long-time%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 08 Mar 11 02:47:44 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saher.baloch]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=129341</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Members of the Peoples Amn Committee welcome Zulfiqar Mirza's acknowledgement of ties with the PPP.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Members of the Peoples Amn Committee (PAC) have welcomed Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza’s acknowledgement of ties with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), saying it was a relief to finally be publicly accepted by the party.


“We have been a part of the PPP for a very long time,” said Hassan Habib, chairman of the education wing of the committee. “And though the acceptance has come late, we welcome it fully.”

He said that their relationship was like a hidden marriage, in that it “could not be hidden for a long time”.

“It had to come out. There is no point in hiding it now,” said Hassan. “It is a known fact in Lyari that we are a part of the PPP and working for the welfare of the people. So there is no need for us to justify ourselves.”

He said the PPP had previously denied any ties to the PAC because it did not want to anger its allies in government. “If the party had accepted us earlier they would have had to let go of some coalition partners, especially those who think we are extortionists or kidnappers.”

The PAC was formed in early 2008, as soon as the PPP government came to power. Zafar Jan, one of its first members, was appointed its spokesman.

Jan admitted that PAC members had been angered by the PPP’s refusal to acknowledge its connection to the committee. “People felt that the party did not care,” he said. “For us, the most important thing was being a PPP loyalist. But many party members felt shy accepting it [the PAC] in public. That angered us a lot, as we were only working for the development of Lyari.”

He said that the formation of the PAC was not planned. In those days, Lyari was the scene of major gang warfare. “We made this committee with the consent of the PPP to restore the peace by going door-to-door, meeting the people behind the killings and urging them to stop it for the sake of innocent people,” he said.

He said people “planted by agencies or those who think they own Karachi” were behind the violence in Lyari.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Zardari looks to calm seething MQM – again</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/129348/zardari-looks-to-calm-seething-mqm-%e2%80%93-again</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/129348/zardari-looks-to-calm-seething-mqm-%e2%80%93-again#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 08 Mar 11 02:05:23 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Hafeez Tunio]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=129348</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[MQM expected to demand Mirza’s resignation, minister says he is ready to do so.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Dr Zulfiqar Mirza has said he is willing to step down as Sindh home minister, a concession that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is likely to demand as a minimum condition for remaining in the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led coalition in Sindh, when it meets with President Asif Ali Zardari today.


“I am a loyal worker of the PPP and party responsibility is more important to me than any portfolio,” Mirza told reporters outside the Sindh Assembly, which was boycotted by MQM legislators on Monday.

However, he refused to backtrack on his comments about the Peoples Amn Committee that have angered the PPP’s coalition partners, insisting that he had been “misunderstood”.

Some members of the MQM coordination committee announced on Sunday night that they would advise the party to quit the PPP-led coalition after Mirza called the PAC a “sub-organisation” of the PPP. The MQM says the PAC is behind incidents of kidnapping and extortion in Lyari.

Sources told The Express Tribune that at the President’s House meeting, scheduled for 3pm on Tuesday, an MQM delegation would also demand that the Sindh government launch a crackdown on the PAC as proof that it was not a part of the PPP.

The sources said that the president was likely to try his best to keep the MQM on board, in which case he would have to accept one of the MQM’s demands. But they added that this time the MQM was determined to part ways with the PPP.

The MQM Coordination Committee met again on Monday. Addressing the media after the meeting at Nine Zero, Sindh IT Minister and CC member Raza Haroon said that the committee had decided to stop working with the PPP and would convey its decision to President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani at the meeting on Tuesday. Dr Farooq Sattar, Babar Khan Ghauri, Dr Sagheer Ahmed Siddiqui and Raza Haroon will be part of the delegation that will call on Zardari.

Haroon said that the CC had decided that MQM legislators would boycott the Sindh Assembly, as well as the National Assembly and Senate proceedings.

He said that the MQM had repeatedly warned the president, the prime minister, the federal interior minister and the Sindh chief minister of the soaring crime in Karachi, but to no avail. Contrary to assurances that steps would be taken against the criminals, Mirza continued to support them and police actions  was avoided, he said.

He said the home minister was “aiding the terrorists and criminals of the PAC”, which was behind increasing incidents of kidnappings, robberies and extortion affecting traders and shopkeepers in Karachi. Now artists were also being extorted, he said. “The entire society is gripped with an acute sense of insecurity and helplessness,”
he said.

Mirza ‘misunderstood’

Mirza said that the MQM had misunderstood him. “I stand by my words. Our coalition partner misunderstood my speech regarding the Amn Committee,” he told reporters outside the Sindh Assembly on Monday.

The minister said he had taken the Sindh governor into confidence over clashes between Baloch and Katchis in Lyari. He said Interior Minister Malik was due to arrive in Karachi to resolve the matter. He added that other PPP leaders had started contacting their MQM counterparts and hoped that the MQM’s grievances would be removed.

He said that not every worker of the PAC was a criminal and there was no room for criminals in the PPP. “I have talked about the fake cases registered against PPP workers, leaders and other innocent people by the outgoing government. These cases were lodged on political grounds and they will be disposed of on merit. The government has started reviewing them.”

To a question, he said that some elements wanted to destabilise the PPP-MQM partnership. He said the media should avoid highlighting issues which would create trouble between the two parties.

He said there was no evidence that the PAC was involved in extortion or kidnapping. “We have investigated the cases and the reports are baseless. The PAC is not involved. They are peaceful people. Meanwhile, other groups are involved in extortion. We, together with the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, busted a few gangs which used to send chits to extort industrialists,” he said.

The MQM boycotted the Sindh Assembly session in protest against Mirza’s speech, but he was greeted like a hero by his PPP colleagues when he entered the assembly. The MPAs shouted “Jeay Bhutto” and “Aaya aaya sher aaya” and thumped their desks as the beaming minister walked in.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>'MQM misunderstood my speech'</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/128796/mirza-%e2%80%98owns-lyari-amn-committee%e2%80%99-mqm-peeved</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/128796/mirza-%e2%80%98owns-lyari-amn-committee%e2%80%99-mqm-peeved#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 07 Mar 11 02:30:03 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=128796</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[MQM boycotts Sindh Assembly session over Mirza's remarks; Mirza says he is willing to work with MQM.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza said on Monday that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had misunderstood his speech and that he was willing to work with the party. 

Mirza was speaking about the reaction of the MQM regarding his statement on the People's Aman Committee and their decision to boycott the day's Sindh Assembly session.

Mirza said it was part of his domain if innocent citizens had any problems with the police and he said that he was hopeful the MQM would support him on his decision. He also invited the MQM to bring forward any such cases and said that he was ready to review them.

The MQM earlier today slammed Mirza's statement and said the party was also considering parting ways with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and will be meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari in this regard in a few days.

In a joint meeting of the MQM's Coordination Committee in Karachi and London, MQM leaders condemned Mirza's support for the Peoples Aman Committee under the PPP's umbrella.

The MQM said the People's Aman Committee comprises of criminals and accused Mirza of supporting them.

Speaking to the media in Karachi, MQM leader Raza Haroon said his party cannot continue on with the PPP under the current situation.

Haroon said that the party will also boycott the sessions of the National Assembly and the Senate when they are held.

Updated from print edition (below)

Mirza ‘owns Lyari Amn Committee’, MQM peeved

After months of denying links with Lyari’s Peoples Amn Committee (PAC) at government level, Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza said on Sunday that the committee was a “sub-organisation of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).”


“Considering the sacrifices rendered by its members, I today announce that the PAC is an affiliate organisation of the PPP,” he said at a gathering in Malir organised to commemorate the seventh death anniversary of the slain PPP activist, former MPA Abdullah Murad Baloch. He said that the committee comprised founding members of the PPP, adding: “They are the followers of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.”

Mirza, who is also the senior vice-president of the PPP in Sindh, rebuffed the notion that PAC members were extortionists, kidnappers and criminals.

“If all PAC members are criminals, then Zulfiqar Mirza should be considered one of them too,” the home minister said, adding that if “mistakes have been made, they have been made “from Liaquatabad to Lyari”.

“If wrong cases have been registered, we will review them and dispose them of on merit.”

Meanwhile, he called Malir a PPP fort.

Interestingly, arrangements for the function were made by members of the Peoples Amn Committee and armed persons were seen wearing black commando jackets at the gathering.

MQM’s response

Just after the PPP leader made the remarks, some members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Rabita Committee urged their leadership to quit the coalition in Sindh.

A handout said that members of the Rabita Committee, including Muhammad Anwar, Anees Advocate and Muhammad Ashfaque, condemned Mirza’s statement and said that patronisation of “criminal elements” was unacceptable.

MQM has repeatedly accused the PAC – notorious  for its alleged role in the  Lyari gang wars – to be “deeply involved in extortion rackets”.

Although MQM has consistently conveyed to the PPP that there were certain ministers in the Sindh cabinet who “have been backing criminals of the so-called Peoples Amn Committee”, the government has always refuted such claims.

They said that now that Dr Zulfiqar Mirza had owned the so-called Peoples Amn Committee, it “is clear that he is the patron-in-chief of the PAC terrorists. The people of Sindh have the right to question Mirza’s eligibility to hold his post”.

MQM members said that it was an “established fact that PAC terrorists were involved in the Shershah market massacre. Mirza’s statement was self-explanatory: he is involved in the bloodshed, besides sharing the ransom from kidnappings”.

PPP reaction 

After the event, Mirza told journalists: “The MQM has interpreted my speech in a wrong manner. I did not speak in favour of criminals: I just supported innocent people who, despite being PAC activists, are loyal to the PPP manifesto. I will request my friends to (carefully) listen to my speech again before giving a reaction.”

He said the police had been arresting criminals, irrespective of their political affiliation, but the courts kept releasing them.

Talking to The Express Tribune, PPP Sindh secretary-general Taj Haider said that Mirza was not wrong to support innocent people of the Peoples Aman Committee. The MQM had taken his speech “out of context” and they should not get “emotional”, he said.

“We are democratic coalition partners and, therefore, we should persevere,” he added.

An insider in MQM’s hierarchy told The Express Tribune that federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik had unsuccessfully tried to contact with MQM chief Altaf Hussein in a bid to defuse the tension in the wake of Mirza’s remarks. However, Malik discussed the situation with Anwar and Anees in London.

Sources said that Malik had assured MQM leaders that he would brief President Asif Ali Zardari about their stance.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>MQM’s return is temporary: Fazl</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101807/mqm%e2%80%99s-return-is-temporary-fazl</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101807/mqm%e2%80%99s-return-is-temporary-fazl#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 11 Jan 11 05:57:06 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=101807</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[JUI-F chief says MQM's return to the treasury benches is just a temporary support for the government.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) return to the treasury benches is just a temporary support for the government, said Jamiat Ulema Pakistan-Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F) chief on Monday. He was speaking to media at the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).

He said that the present government needs to find out a way to reduce the international pressure on Pakistan. “International financial institutions are interfering in financial matters and even pressing the government to change our laws and regulations,” he said. He stressed the need of consistent political and economic policies. The state cannot tax its citizens if it is failing to provide them with peace and security. The government should avoid implementing those taxes that are being opposed by the business community, he said. “Our government needs to consult the business community for every economic aspect. I always support the idea of consulting businessmen when bringing about laws and regulations in assembly,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Imran Khan wants to form bloc against PPP</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101944/imran-khan-wants-to-form-bloc-against-ppp</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101944/imran-khan-wants-to-form-bloc-against-ppp#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 11 Jan 11 05:49:14 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=101944</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf Chairman suggests political parties opposing PPP should unite against the ruling party.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan suggested that the political parties opposing Pakistan Peoples Party should expand their circle and unite against the ruling party.

He met legislators and politicians at former MNA Mujib Pirzada’s house in Karachi on Sunday. After the meeting, Khan said he wishes to form a coalition in Sindh. “The situation in Quaid’s city and all over the country has deteriorated,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Race for Punjab governor still on</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/102116/race-for-punjab-governor-still-on</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/102116/race-for-punjab-governor-still-on#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 11 Jan 11 02:20:19 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[rauf.klasra]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=102116</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Intrigue continues despite ‘confirmations’ about Khosa; Gilani tries to push through nomination of his choice.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A day after media reports had it that Senator Latif Khosa was all but confirmed as the new governor of Punjab, the intrigue around the appointment started afresh.

Sources told The Express Tribune that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had offered the coveted slot to Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is currently holding the portfolio of foreign minister in his cabinet. However, Qureshi turned down the offer, sources said, perhaps because he wants to stay available in case there is a change in the leader of the house.

The fact is, Gilani is lobbying to bring a man of his own choice to replace Salmaan Taseer, who was gunned down on January 4.

Sources said that Gilani was deflecting political pressure from Nawaz Sharif to push through a nomination of his own choice.

Sources claimed that, though President Asif Ali Zardari had given a go-ahead for Khosa, widely seen as his loyalist, the president and the prime minister were not on the same page about the nomination of the new governor. The president is said to be awaiting a response from Gilani, who is said to be double-minded on the matter.

Sources also said that, soon after the assassination of Salmaan Taseer, an emotional president was eager to make Amna Taseer, the slain leader’s widow, the new governor of the province and had even discussed her name with some of his close aides.

After being advised against this, sources said, the president thought of Khosa, considering the fact that the man had been fighting his legal cases in difficult times without charging any fee. Zardari was also under the impression that Gilani had been unfair to Khosa over the  last two years. First, Gilani sacked Khosa as Attorney General of Pakistan after Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry sent a message to the premier to remove him following the revelation that he received money from petitioners in the name of the judges.

Later, upon Zardari’s insistence, Gilani appointed Khosa as his advisor on Information Technology, where he once again ended up in a fiasco. Once again Gilani forced him out of office unceremoniously.

The sources said Zardari wanted to compensate Khosa for this ‘humiliation’. However, Gilani was not impressed and instead met people at the Prime Minister House to discuss “someone more acceptable” to both him and the president.

The name of Khosa had been leaked to the media before it could be formally made part of the summary to be forwarded to the president.

Meanwhile, sources alleged that Gilani felt he had found a good way to sideline his likely replacement as the prime minister of Pakistan – Shah Mahmood Qureshi – and thus invited him to the Prime Minister House to make him an offer.

If Qureshi was to become Governor Punjab, he would not be able to contest elections for two years and thus he would not be in the race to become prime minister even after the next elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Second thought? Sharif backtracks on ‘ultimatum’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101827/i-never-said-ultimatum-nawaz-sharif</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101827/i-never-said-ultimatum-nawaz-sharif#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 11 Jan 11 02:00:09 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[abdul.manan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=101827</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PML-N chief says the word is not in his dictionary; forms four-member committee to discuss agenda with govt]]>
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				<![CDATA[In an interesting twist to the ongoing political wrangling, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif has said that he had never issued any ‘ultimatum’ to the PPP-led government — and that he had only called on Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to act more aggressively as his powers had been restored under the 18th constitutional amendment.

On January 4, Sharif had spelled out a 10-point agenda asking the government to reply ‘yes or no’ within three days, or else face expulsion of its ministers from the Punjab cabinet. Later that evening, the deadline was extended by three days due to the assassination of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer.

But on Monday he seemed to backtrack on his statement. “The word ultimatum does not exist in my dictionary,” Sharif told a news conference at his Raiwind estate on Monday. “I never used the word ultimatum,” he added, squarely putting the blame on the media for putting the word in his mouth.

But political analysts believe the change in Sharif’s tone occurred after the MQM decided to rejoin the ruling coalition, putting the PML-N in an awkward position.

Sharif, however, reiterated his ambitious 10-point agenda at Monday’s news conference. “This agenda is the other name for change,” he said and added that if implemented, it would usher in an era of prosperity in the country.

Sharif said his party would submit the agenda to the PPP government in a couple of days. And a four-member committee has been formed for the purpose. Senator Ishaq Dar will head the committee which will include Sardar Mehtab Abbasi, Pervaiz Rashid and Abdul Qadir Baloch as its members.

On Sunday, Premier Gilani spoke to Sharif over the phone and assured him that the government would  “I am thankful to the prime minister for his telephone call and for his ‘yes’ to the PML-N agenda,” Sharif told the news conference.

The government has already withdrawn the increase in prices of petroleum products and Sharif said his party want it to put an end to electricity and gas load-shedding, once and for all.

Asked about the appointment of new governor in Punjab, Sharif said that he did not discuss the matter with the prime minister in Sunday’s call.

He rejected the allegations of horse-trading against his party. “My party does not believe in politics of blackmail and horse-trading,” he added.

Sharif said Pakistan is passing through one of the worst crises of its history and foreign newspapers are calling Pakistan the most dangerous country in the world. He stressed the need for collective efforts to steer the country out of troubled waters.

Sharif said that his party did not want midterm elections rather it wanted the PPP-led government to complete its five-year constitutional tenure.

Military dictators, who had overthrown elected governments in the past in the name of reform, had miserably failed. And subsequent martial laws destroyed the country, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>New countdown: PML-Q dissidents told to prepare for show of strength</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101634/new-countdown-pml-q-dissidents-told-to-prepare-for-show-of-strength</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101634/new-countdown-pml-q-dissidents-told-to-prepare-for-show-of-strength#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 11 04:19:18 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[abdul.manan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=101634</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Show of strength urged to give PPP the clear message that the N-league is serious about implementing its demands.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Notwithstanding Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s assent to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) agenda, the PML-Q’s dissident ‘unification group’ has been asked to prepare for a show of strength to give a clear message to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) the N-League was serious about implementing its demands, The Express Tribune has learnt reliably.

After Gilani phoned Sharif on Sunday, the PML-N formed a three-member committee under Senator Ishaq Dar to look after the agenda’s implementation, ending all speculation about PPP expulsion from the Punjab government.

The PML-N insisted that if the agenda remain unimplemented, it will sack PPP ministers in Punjab.

The PML-N’s deadline for the PPP-led government to accept its demands was set to end on Monday. A few members from the Q-League’s ‘unification group’ told The Express Tribune that the Punjab government contacted them all via DCOs concerned, asking them to attend a dinner at the residence of their group head Dr Tahir Ali in Lahore. They said that they have been asked to make a show of strength.

One PML-Q member said that around eight of their colleagues, who are from southern Punjab, might not be able to reach the venue on time, but the rest of them would make sure that they attend the function.

They said that the gathering was aimed at conveying a message to the federal government that the PML-N’s was serious about the implementation of its demands and it was not an idle threat.

PML-N’s Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal said that a new 45-day countdown had begun. He said that the PML-N’s committee would “make sure that the agenda is implemented”, adding that the party would hold a meeting in Lahore to formulate a strategy in this regard.

Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that the formula given by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was a “national agenda” aimed at mitigating people’s problems.

Stressing the need for national solidarity, he said that there could not be a better agenda for elimination of corruption, strengthening of the democratic system and resolving public problems.

He was talking to media after visiting an under-construction forensic laboratory near Thokar Niaz Beg.  The younger Sharif said that complete support “will be extended to the PPP in implementing this agenda honestly”. Urging the government to take action against elements who got loans worth billions of rupees written off using political clout, he said that failure to recover loans from people who led luxurious lives was a “complete negation of the efforts to root out poverty and provide large-scale employment to the people and amounted to playing a joke with the nation”.

Answering a question about the suspension of gas supply to Punjab, he recalled that during a meeting with the prime minister, it had been agreed that gas “will be provided to Punjab five days a week” but it was unfortunate that the decision remained unimplemented.

Terming the suspension of gas supply disastrous for the province’s economy, he said that it was necessary to save the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people.

He said that if the decision was not immediately implemented, protests would be held at all levels.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Bad governance: Elahi accuses Sharifs of clinging to power</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101588/bad-governance-elahi-accuses-sharifs-of-clinging-to-power</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101588/bad-governance-elahi-accuses-sharifs-of-clinging-to-power#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 11 03:19:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=101588</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PML-Q says instead of threatening the federal govt, Nawaz should have taken his brother to task for corruption.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Ridiculing the PML-N’s 10-point agenda, senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) said that instead of threatening the federal government, Nawaz Sharif should have taken his younger brother to task for “bad governance and corruption”.

Talking to reporters at his residence on Sunday, he accused the Sharif brothers of promoting the ‘politics of turncoats’ and said that they had done “everything just to remain in power”.

Accusing the Sharifs of violating key clauses of the Charter of Democracy, he said that they had supported PML-Q dissidents, “promoted nepotism, introduced ridiculous schemes, converted a province in surplus to one with a debt of Rs250 billion and destabilised law and order, health and education”.

He said that Nawaz Sharif conveniently forgot the failures of the Punjab chief minister while threatening the federal government.

He said that after defrauding people through the Sasti Roti Scheme, the Punjab government was going to spend Rs30 billion on another bogus scheme, the crime rate in the province had surged by 60 per cent, an inexperienced team of bureaucrats had been inducted and honest officials were being transferred.

In response to Pervaiz Elahi’s assertions, Punjab government’s spokesperson Senator Pervaiz Rashid said that Elahi left for the Punjab government a legacy of a grand robbery in the Bank of Punjab, consumed Rs2.5 billion on personal advertisements, increased the estimated cost of the Ring Road and Lahore-Kasur projects.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Local bodies election: MQM demands schedule</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101630/local-bodies-election-mqm-demands-schedule</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101630/local-bodies-election-mqm-demands-schedule#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 11 03:06:43 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[ejaz.sheikh]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=101630</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Rehman Malik seeks time for consultation with PPP’s top leadership.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has demanded that the PPP-led government either announce a schedule for local bodies elections or reinstate former mayors.

However, the PPP has decided to prepare a final report on the matter after intra-party consultations, sources told Daily Express. And one of the MQM demands is likely to be conceded at a meeting on January 14.

It was decided in a high-level meeting between the two parties at the Governor’s House in Karachi on Sunday. Attendees at the meeting included Governor Ishratul Ebad Khan, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shan and Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Senator Babar Ghauri, Kanwar Naveed Jamil and Wasim Aftab. Top provincial bureaucrats and other officials were also in attendance.

Sources told Express that the MQM has asked the government to immediately hold local bodies’ elections. And if there are any hiccups, then previous district governments should be reinstated.

The other demands put forward by the MQM included release of funds for district governments of Karachi and Hyderabad and provision of jobs to Karachi’s youths in all provincial departments, including police.

According to the sources, Interior Minister Malik sought some time from the MQM team for consultation with his party’s leadership on these demands.

Provincial ministers informed the meeting about administrative issues confronting their departments. Chief Minister Shah directed the chief secretary to take immediate action and address the problems.

The meeting also finalised a roadmap for providing relief to people through mutual cooperation, smooth running of development projects and meaningful progress. Governor Ishratul Ebad expressed hope that these steps would ensure good governance and reduce people’s problems.

The participants agreed that in the present situation when the country was faced with the threat of extremism, cooperation among moderate forces was essential. They also agreed to follow the vision of President Asif Zardari and MQM chief Altaf Hussain to steer the country out of crises.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Top slot: Premier backs Khosa for Punjab governor</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101631/top-slot-premier-backs-khosa-for-punjab-governor</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101631/top-slot-premier-backs-khosa-for-punjab-governor#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 11 02:46:28 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=101631</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Former attorney general has emerged as the lead candidate.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Sardar Latif Khosa, a loyalist of President Asif Zardari, has virtually jumped over the last hurdle in his ‘lucky run’ to the influential slot of governor Punjab by managing to win the support of the prime minister. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had so far been opposing Khosa’s appointment as the new constitutional head of the country’s most populous province because of his past.

Khosa was removed from the post of adviser to the prime minister on information technology amid allegations of corruption.

Earlier similar accusations caused his removal from the slot of attorney general of Pakistan.

Officials said Gilani had agreed to Khosa’s appointment as the successor of the slain Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer after a long meeting with him here on Sunday afternoon.

Taseer was gunned down by an elite police commando in his security detail in an upscale Islamabad market.

At least one official in Gilani’s secretariat told The Express Tribune that the premier had sent a summary to the president, proposing the appointment of Khosa.

But at least two other concerned officials said they were not aware of any such development. A spokesperson for Gilani refused to comment.

Gilani told reporters at a news conference that consultations were underway to decide who should step into the shoes of Taseer to spearhead what has been a PPP battleground with rival Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz in Punjab.

Khosa himself said he would accept the position if the party decided in his favour.

But one of his sons in Lahore said Khosa had been informed by the top leadership of the PPP about his nomination as new governor Punjab.

Khosa was in a close race with Law Minister Babar Awan for the post that is very crucial for the PPP’s political future in Punjab.

Observers however said Khosa is not an appropriate choice for the slot because of his weak political credentials and stained track record.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Sharif agenda: Gilani caves in to opposition demands</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101291/ppp-accepts-pml-ns-agenda</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101291/ppp-accepts-pml-ns-agenda#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 11 02:00:39 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=101291</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PML-N withdraws deadline, gives ruling party 45 days to implement reforms; MQM welcomes the decision.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The government has steered its way out of choppy political waters by holding out promises of economic and administrative reforms and acceding to the main opposition party’s demands.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced at a news conference on Sunday that his government had accepted a raft of demands made by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

“I have told Mian Sahib (Nawaz Sharif) that we are positive about his demands and he replied, ‘if you are positive then we will not part ways with your party in Punjab’,” Gilani told the media after spending a hectic day calling almost all national leaders. “It is the national agenda now. We have to work together to guide the country out of crises.”

Sharif’s party immediately withdrew the deadline it had set the government following the prime minister’s pledge. However, another deadline looms for the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Now Gilani’s party has to keep its pledge and fulfill the demands within 45 days.

The PML-N is in no mood to ease up just yet. Its leaders cautioned that they would keep a close eye on the implementation of the reforms.

Both Gilani and a PML-N spokesperson said that a three-member committee led by Senator Ishaq Dar would coordinate with the government on how to go ahead with the implementation of the reform agenda proposed by Sharif.

The latest conciliatory gesture on the part of the government comes on the heels of last week’s reversal of a fuel price hike – a key concession aimed at winning over estranged ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

Sharif’s party had also wanted fuel prices to remain unchanged. Along with that PML-N had called upon the government to probe corruption cases, reduce non-development spending by one third, and set up an independent election body.

The government briefly lost its slender majority in parliament after the MQM pulled out of the ruling coalition following a similar defection by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) of Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

“I have also called Maulana Fazlur Rehman and whether he rejoins the government, well, it is his prerogative, his own politics,” Gilani said when asked if he had invited the JUI-F to rejoin the ruling coalition.

Dar, a former finance minister, told a television channel that he would recommend a slimmed down version of the government to curtail non-development expenditures.

Referring to the politicians he had spoken to, Gilani said the response from other political leaders including Pakistan Muslim League-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and MQM’s Altaf Hussain was also positive.

A statement by the MQM from its Karachi media office said Hussain had welcomed Gilani’s gesture of accepting PML-N’s demands and voiced hope it would auger well for the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>PPP set to appoint Latif Khosa as Governor Punjab</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101226/finding-new-partners-ppp-to-appoint-governor-after-pml-n-deadline-elapses</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101226/finding-new-partners-ppp-to-appoint-governor-after-pml-n-deadline-elapses#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 09 Jan 11 09:50:32 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=101226</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Former attorney general's son Balakh Sher Khosa confirms report of Khosa's appointment to Express News.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator and Former Attorney General Latif  Khosa is likely to be appointed as the new governor of Punjab.

According to sources, Khosa's name has been finalised by President  Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani today (Sunday).

The former attorney general's son Balakh Sher Khosa also confirmed the  report to Express News. According to Article 101 of the constitution, the president has to  appoint a governor on the advice of the Prime Minister. However, President Zardari's Spokesman Farhatullah Babar has said a  decision regarding who will be the new Punjab governor has not been taken  yet.

Finding new partners: PPP to appoint governor after PML-N deadline elapses

Although the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has not yet named the new governor of Punjab President Zardari is expected to appoint close aide Sardar Latif Khosa to succeed Salmaan Taseer, officials said.

Sources in the party say the announcement would come after the deadline given by Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) expires.

“Khosa is most likely to be appointed as Punjab governor,” a senior government official said. Other top officials confirmed this. Khosa, a former attorney general, told Reuters on Saturday that Zardari had called him for a meeting in Karachi. “I will accept the decision of my leadership,” he said.

The choice of who will replace Taseer is crucial for Zardari. Choosing Khosa could mean Zardari is seeking to cool temperatures with Nawaz Sharif.

Analysts say Khosa will try to avoid antagonising the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to tamp down disputes that have paralysed the federal government. Though soft-spoken and non-confontational, he is an ardent supporter of the PPP.

“Our party wants to see the reaction of PML-N before nominating any person for the slot. There are two to three names under consideration but all the news items regarding aspiring candidates for governorship are just exaggerations,” a party leader told The Express Tribune. The new governor will belong to the PPP and will have full backing of PML-Q, the source added.

Meeting with Asma Jahangir

Meanwhile, reports of President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Asma Jahangir, who called on President Zardari at Bilawal House on Saturday, being considered for the post of governorship were bluntly denied by Jahangir. Talking to media outside the Bilawal House, she said the position she holds currently is more significant than governorship.

During the meeting, the president announced a grant of Rs100 million for the SCBA, of which Rs40 million would be provided by the law ministry, in addition to plots of land for members of the bar, according to sources.

Meanwhile, Jahangir also raised the issue of missing persons in Balochistan and the President assured her that he would look into the matter, sources added.

PPP, PML-Q negotiations

A senior Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) leader, who is also member of Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the party, said that backdoor negotiations between the PPP and the PML-Q are going on and 70 per cent of the members of the party’s parliamentary committee are willing to join the government.

“During the CEC meeting, it was discussed that PPP was not sincere with us. But since we have mandates in Balochistan and Punjab, therefore we decided to demand chief minister-ships in both the provinces,” he told The Express Tribune.

Meetings with Sindh Bank board, federal ministers

A high level meeting was held at Bilawal House with the board of directors of Sindh Bank.

The bank expects to disburse loans worth Rs12 billion to various sectors during the year 2011 and will provide employment to 6,000 people, said President and CEO Sindh Bank Muhammad Bilal Shaikh. The bank will finance particularly small and medium sized enterprises, Shaikh added.

The president also met Federal Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh, Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf and spoke to former President SCBA Aitzaz Ahsan on the phone while Federal Defence Minister Chaudhary Ahmed Muhktar also called on him.

With input from Reuters

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Turned tables: With the centre secure, all eyes now on Punjab</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101213/turned-tables-with-the-centre-secure-all-eyes-now-on-punjab</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/101213/turned-tables-with-the-centre-secure-all-eyes-now-on-punjab#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 09 Jan 11 06:41:36 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[abdul.manan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=101213</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[As the PPP-led government finds itself back in majority in the centre, the situation in Punjab has taken centre stage.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[As the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led government finds itself back in majority in the centre, the political situation in Punjab has taken centre stage.

Earlier in the week, the chief opposition to the government in the centre, Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), had upped the pressure on the PPP after the federal government lost majority in the house with the departure of key ally Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

The PML-N, which is in power in Punjab with the PPP as its junior coalition partner, had demanded that the federal government implement a nine-point charter by February – audaciously giving the PPP leadership four days to respond in a clear “yes or no”.  The PML-N threatened that if the PPP did not respond by the deadline, which is to expire tomorrow (January 10), it would first de-notify its ministers from the Punjab provincial cabinet, and then consider other options.

That was when the PPP-led federal government was on the defensive having lost its majority in the National Assembly – and was at the mercy of the PML-N, which could have brought a successful no-confidence motion against the prime minister.

However, with the rejoining of the MQM, and the numbers back in its favour, the PPP is now better placed to not only resist such pressure, but apply some pressure of its own.

It remains to be seen what the PML-N will do once the deadline expires, but a rejuvenated PPP seems positioned to ignore the deadline. In fact, PPP leaders on Saturday took a defiant stance, saying that, while they would not quit the Punjab government, the PML-N could go ahead and de-notify its provincial ministers.

PPP Punjab President Imtiaz Safdar Warraich said that, in any case, PPP ministers in the Punjab cabinet have nominal power and status. He said that PML-N’s decision to force the PPP out of the government after January 10 had exposed its designs, and they would welcome the decision.

The number of ministries of the PPP in the Punjab government stood to be reduced by two in any case on Saturday as part of the province’s austerity drive that will see seven ministries being merged or abolished for the purpose of good governance.

On its part, the PML-N seems to have now gone on the defensive as of Saturday.

“We did not use the word deadline … We are not used to using such terminologies in our politics. We are waiting for the government’s response on the agenda we had put forward. At least they should respond in affirmative to give an impression that they wanted to improve governance,” a close aide of Sharif brothers said.

The statement of the PML-N leader, who is also a member of the parliament, indicates that the party is willing to show some flexibility as any drastic move can have implications for their party as well. The PML-N does not enjoy simple majority in the provincial legislature, and would have to deal with complexities of new allies to keep its rule intact.

In the Punjab Assembly, the PML-N has 171 seats, PPP has 107, PML-Q has 81, Independents five, PML-F three, MMA two and PML-Zia one. However, of PML-Q’s 81 legislators, 47 have reportedly defected.

PPP-PML-Q alliance in Punjab?

Reports suggest that the PPP has decided to challenge the PML-N government in Punjab and has asked its provincial chief and other office bearers to negotiate with PML-Q for an alliance.

PPP activists close to President Ali Zardari have ruled out suggestions from the prime minister’s camp to appoint a governor who is acceptable to the PML-N, The Express Tribune has learnt.

They said that the PML-Q leadership has apparently agreed to ally itself with the PPP in Punjab and asked the PPP leadership to contact the defectors’ forward bloc as well.

When asked about the PPP’s plan to negotiate with PML-Q dissidents, Warraich replied that every party has the right to negotiate with probable allies to strengthen the democratic system.

Warraich has asked around 10 PML-Q dissidents to pledge their support to PPP and leave the forward bloc in exchange for attractive rewards, disclosed sources in the rebel group within the forward bloc that comprises 10 young MPAs unhappy with Dr Tahir Ali Javed, a leader of the PML-Q dissidents. A decision by these 10 MPAs is expected in the coming days.

However, PML-Q’s forward block leader, Maneka, told The Express Tribune that 47 PML-Q members are with him and they would side with the PML-N in Punjab. He has called a meeting of the group on Tuesday to show their solidarity with the ruling party.

When the PPP imposed governor’s rule in Punjab, the unification group did not offer its support for a PPP-led government. For the last three years, the forward bloc has been unconditionally supporting the PML-N, said Maneka.

The members of the unification group will pitch for the office of opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly and contest the legal bar since they constitute the majority of the members of the PML-Q, he said.

New Punjab governor

Meanwhile, the PPP is mulling different options as the race has intensified among the contenders who are lobbying hard for the Punjab governorship in the wake of Salmaan Taseer’s assassination.

With President Asif Ali Zardari to make the decision as to who will be the governor of the PML-N led Punjab, different names have been popping up in the media. A series of meetings have already been held by the president in Karachi.

The pending decision for appointment of a new governor in the province is also closely linked to the probabilities of relations between the PPP and PML-N.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>PPP members urge party to quit Punjab govt</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100783/nine-point-agenda-pml-n-reminds-ppp-of-impending-deadline</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100783/nine-point-agenda-pml-n-reminds-ppp-of-impending-deadline#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 08 Jan 11 13:00:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=100783</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PPP members send recommendations to their leadership advising it to quit the coalition in Punjab.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Punjab members on Saturday sent recommendations to their leadership advising it to quit the coalition in Punjab.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had given the government until January 10, 2011 to respond to a nine-point agenda or else face expulsion from the coalition government in Punjab.

Talking to the media outside the Governor House in Lahore, PPP Punjab President Imtiaz Safdar Warraich asserted that the decision to pull out of the provincial government cannot be reversed.

Meanwhile, member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) forward block Atta Muhammad Manika said that his party will support the PML-N in Punjab.

Speaking to Express News, Manika said that no party can form a government in Punjab without including forward block members.

He was of the view that it is difficult for the PPP and the PML Q to destabalise the PML-N government in the province, adding that no party wants to play any role in forcing the PPP to quit the federal government.

updated from print edition (below)

Nine-point agenda: PML-N reminds PPP of impending deadline

Though the PPP-led coalition seems to have wriggled out of a crisis after winning over the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the main opposition party – the PML-N – has reminded the ruling party that it will stick to the deadline it set earlier this week.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had given the government – which had lost its majority in the centre with the MQM gone - until January 10 to respond to a nine-point agenda or else face expulsion from the coalition government in Punjab.

On Friday, Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah told journalists in Lahore that the PPP would have to respond, ‘yes or no’ to the PML-N’s agenda by January 10.

Sources in the PML-N have told The Express Tribune that the party has decided to de-notify seven provincial ministers from the PPP after the expiry of the deadline.

However, to counter this, the Punjab chapter of the PPP is considering forming a coalition government with the help of the PML-Quaid, if need be, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Sanaullah shifted the blame of the assassination of the Punjab governor to the PPP saying that the ruling party had failed to provide proper security to Salmaan Taseer.

Federal Law Minister Babar Awan has described Taseer’s murder as a political killing. But Sanaullah said Awan was happy with the murder because he was aspiring for the office of the governor Punjab. “Although Taseer was not a religious man, his death was the result of a controversy between the PPP and religious parties over the blasphemy laws,” he added.

Earlier Punjab Senior Minister Raja Riaz said that if PML-N would de-notify provincial ministries from the PPP, the party would form a coalition government with the PML-Q.

Awan accused the PML-N of supporting Salmaan Taseer’s assassin. He also claimed that the president of PML-N lawyers’ wing at Islamabad had garlanded Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri. He also said that the PPP would respond to the PML-N deadline after January 10.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>MQM returns to the treasury: Government back in business</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100342/gilani-arrives-at-nine-zero</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100342/gilani-arrives-at-nine-zero#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 08 Jan 11 02:00:14 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Salman Siddiqui]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=100342</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Gilani agrees to MQM demand; defers reformed GST bill.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Following a bold initiative by the prime minister, the besieged government scored a major reprieve on Friday with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM)  return to the treasury benches.

The return means the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government wins back its majority in the National Assembly after a precarious few days.

While the MQM will not be rejoining the federal cabinet, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s reconciliatory trip to Nine-Zero, the party’s headquarters, following the government’s yielding on many key issues, seems to have done the job.

Accompanied by senior PPP leaders Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Interior Minister Rehman Malik, the prime minister also announced that legislation on the contentious reformed general sales tax (RGST) would be deferred.

Earlier, Gilani was accorded  a red-carpet welcome as rows of MQM supporters, including women, lined up to greet him. Rose petals were also showered upon him.

However, the prime minister and members of his team could do nothing more than sport uneasy smiles when slogans veered from ‘Sab Kehdo Saaf Saaf, Altaf Altaf (Everyone say clearly, Altaf Altaf!)’ to ‘Yeh Shehr Kiska? Quaid Ka!’ (Whose city is this? It is our leader’s) and ‘Yeh Sooba Kiska? Quaid Ka!’ (Whose province is this? It is our leader’s.)

There was a sense of victory visible outside Nine-Zero even before Gilani stepped inside for more than 90-minute-long talks with MQM leaders, including Senator Babar Ghauri, MNA Haider Abbas Rizvi, Raza Haroon, Mustafa Kamal and Nasreen Jalil.

Later, Gilani told the gathering that the PPP-MQM ties were already strained and were further damaged by the government’s decision to increase fuel prices.

“I called a meeting of heads of all parties in parliament, including the MQM, and informed them about economic problems and my own difficulties. But the MQM was upset, so today I’ve come here after reversing that decision,” he said.

Referring to the RGST bill, he said that the MQM chief had expressed his reservations in conversations with him and he offered to have him briefed by his economic team. “We decided that until there is a consensus, the RGST bill will not be tabled for discussion.”

The prime minister said he was inviting the MQM leader to help him bring forward a transparent accountability bill, adding that “politicians are always blamed for corruption”. He said that there was only a “thin line between accountability and victimisation”. He said he did not believe in political victimisation, adding that even the slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto had repeatedly told him that she had chosen to land in Karachi after ending her long exile because “she had reconciled with Altaf Hussain”.

Gilani also addressed MQM’s complaint of not being taken into confidence over important issues in the provincial government. “I have directed the provincial government to take MQM on board on all policy matters in Sindh. I assure on behalf of the provincial government that all hurdles in the way of MQM ministers discharging their duties will be removed.”

The prime minister heaped praises on Hussain’s leadership and urged the MQM to stay with the PPP in the coalition government. He said both parties realised that their unity was important not only for the city but for the whole country.

“When there is a misunderstanding between the MQM and PPP, the stock exchange dives and business leaders become depressed. We need to work together,” he said.

After the speech, member of MQM’s Coordination Committee Raza Haroon said: “After thorough discussions, the Coordination Committee in London and Karachi has decided that MQM will sit on the treasury benches in view of the economic problems, important national and public issues, deteriorating law and order situation and for the promotion of democracy, but it will not rejoin the federal cabinet.”

Haroon said: “We have talked at length about national issues and we are happy that the prime minister and his team have…given firm assurances that all issues would be resolved.”

Hussain spoke with Gilani over the telephone at Nine-Zero and told him that “all patriotic political parties should not only exercise restraint but also they should promote a culture to discourage extremism and promote moderation in politics for the national security and strengthening of democracy.”

The MQM chief said the party wanted ‘the wheel of democracy’ to move forward and for the democratic government to play its role for solving people’s basic problems.

“A difference of opinion among political parties is not a new thing but political parties in other countries stand united in difficult times,” Hussain said. He expressed the hope that the government would not disappoint MQM in solving public problems.

Earlier, Prime Minister Gilani called on President Asif Ali Zardari at the Bilawal House before leaving for Nine-Zero.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Reversing the petrol price raise</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100553/reversing-the-petrol-price-raise</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100553/reversing-the-petrol-price-raise#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 11 19:06:56 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=100553</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Government has buckled under ‘political consensus’ against raising petrol prices in line with international ones.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The government has buckled under a ‘political consensus’ against raising petrol prices in line with the international ones, as Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told the National Assembly on January 6 that this decision would cost the country Rs5 billion a month. In a way, he has accepted the ‘consensus’ as a countdown for his government. Many sections of the media did cartwheels of joy with headlines like ‘awam ki fatah’ and ‘hakumat nay ghutnay tek diyay’ (‘people’s victory’ and ‘government falls to its knees’).

The government had had to abandon the policy of subsidising oil prices in 2009 after accepting the IMF regime of bringing under control its budget deficit and extending the tax net. This prescription should have been adopted in Pakistan in any case for its own benefit, because widening deficits can cause high levels of inflation. Pakistan had offered to impose the reformed general sales tax (RGST) as a first step to reach the stage of registration of the economy, prior to improving direct taxation. The RGST, too, was used as a political tool and rejected by the opposition.

The combined opposition has more votes in the National Assembly than the government. It can either get the prime minister to prove a majority through a no-confidence vote or make the government adopt policies that will ensure its demise through such ‘natural means’ as international isolation — which will result in stoppage of foreign assistance and the inability of the state to buy energy-related imports. The opposition has taken the latter course at the risk of appearing to be ignorant of basic economics. It has chosen to ignore that Pakistan became ungovernable, in large part, by the Musharraf regime’s decision to accumulate a mountain of circular debt by subsidising the 2007 hike in the international oil price.

Large sections of the media are also at fault in this. While it was all right to expose the government’s corruption scandals, it was not proper to turn the face away from economic principles that guide the world today. The clergy, which has combined to hit the roads in protest against any modification in the blasphemy law, is equally opposed to the latest price adjustment by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.

The ulema do not believe in any economic system dictated in their eyes by the West, in general, and America in particular. They think Pakistan remains tainted by the curse of bank interest at home and the interest it pays on loans contracted through west-dominated international organisations. Their recipe is a bloody revolution that will squeeze the capitalist to fill the coffers of the state. But the political parties know better. The PML-N knows that it is taking the populist path which will harm Pakistan. It must also know that coming to power after the PPP, it will not be able to handle the inflationary fallout from the present subsidy, just as the PPP was not able to tackle the circular debt of Musharraf. Unfortunately, the PML-N has played ducks and drakes with its own finances in Punjab by dishing out a Rs20 billion subsidy through its infamous ‘sasti roti’ scheme. The professional economists are all speaking out against the latest splurge, but not the economists aligned with the political parties, which is a pity.

Recovery, after a period of mismanagement or after crises caused by upheavals in the international market, requires tough decisions. If these decisions are not taken responsibly and if fiscal discipline is not adopted even at the risk of popular outrage, no one in the world would be willing to bail Pakistan out — not because of any violation of doctrine, but because everyone knows that after a subsidy, no amount of assistance will help. In France and the United Kingdom, parliaments have taken these tough  and ‘unpopular’ decisions across the political divide in the face of public anger.

Our politicians have turned ‘economic lemmings’, running pell-mell, in the direction of an abyss beyond which al Qaeda and its madrassa minions are waiting for the state to be handed over to them on a platter. Pakistan needs external sympathy and help at this stage, not rupee-destroying subsidy. Furthermore, economic decisions should be made on economic principles, not on the bedrock of populism.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>PM off to MQM headquarters: Gilani’s visit indicates possible reconciliation</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100254/pm-off-to-mqm-headquarters-gilani%e2%80%99s-visit-indicates-possible-reconciliation</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100254/pm-off-to-mqm-headquarters-gilani%e2%80%99s-visit-indicates-possible-reconciliation#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 11 10:10:42 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Salman Siddiqui]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=100254</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Gilani to meet MQM following resolution of one of their publicly known demands of petrol price hike reversal.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[In an attempt to resolve lingering issues between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani will be visiting MQM headquarters at Nine Zero today (Friday) afternoon.

On Thursday night, Gilani along with Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah met the Governor of Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad immediately after landing in Karachi. Interior Minister Rehman Malik was also present. They discussed the prevailing political situation, especially the estranged PPP-MQM relationship.

Although the two sides are tight-lipped about what is expected, it is said that there are chances that the MQM will reconcile to the idea of reclaiming its place in the government.

PPP Information Secretary Fauzia Wahab refused to confirm or deny the premier’s visit, but said that “things are now looking better (between the two parties).”

She said that one of the main publicly known demands of the MQM was to reduce petrol prices, which has now been resolved.

Wahab added that the issue of choosing a new governor of Punjab was also expected to be decided during Gilani’s meeting with the president in the city.

MQM leader Faisal Sabzwari confirmed that the premier was expected to arrive at Nine Zero on Friday, where he would be welcomed by party parliamentarians and senior members of the Rabita Committee.

However, when asked whether a breakthrough had been finally achieved, he said: ‘No, Nothing.’

Professor Rasul Bakhsh Rais, who teaches political science at LUMS University, told The Express Tribune that the premier’s visit to Nine Zero indicates that all issues between the two parties have been sorted out.

“Also, it will give the MQM an honourable face saving excuse of re-entering the coalition as they’ll be able to say that even though all of their reservations were not removed, they were giving the present coalition another chance because of Gilani’s visit,” he said.

When asked why Gilani would visit Nine Zero if he knew that he will be returning empty handed, Sabzwari insisted that the MQM will not be going back and said, “Didn’t he (Gilani) visit PML-N and Q like that?”

Rais said if the MQM doesn’t re-enter the coalition despite the withdrawal of increase in petroleum prices, it would only confirm that it was not the real issue for the party to begin with, rather a gimmick to play to the gallery.

Also, it would show that the party was sensing that the present PPP-led government was about to collapse and that the MQM would not want to be part of a failing government just days before a mid-term election.

Analyst Zahid Hussain said the petrol price hike was “never the real issue.” The MQM’s main concern is total control over Karachi, especially the local governance versus the commissioner system, post the of city administrator and so on.

Economist Dr Pervez Tahir told The Express Tribune that the irony in all of this is that despite the political drama demanding the withdrawal of the petrol hike to somehow lessen the burden on the common man, “the truth is that the measure will add to the budgetary deficit since the government would be forced to pay for petrol at the international market rate of $96 per barrel, bringing a steep rise in inflation.”

Tahir also added that by not adhering to the IMF conditions, the government’s agreement with the organistation had a good chance of breaking down, especially given that the last tranche of money came months ago and there was pressure on the country’s economy. He predicted that there would be a very slow growth in the economy in the days to come, no matter who stays in power.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik held a one-on-one meeting with the Sindh governor at the Governor House to resolve the tension between PPP and MQM.

MQM’s demand to defer the Commissionrate Bill in the Sindh Assembly has also been met as the bill was removed from the agenda. “The bill was a top priority of today’s session, but at last stage had been asked to defer it,” said an official of Sindh Assembly. Sources said that a few demands of the party including appointment of newly District Coordination Officer (DCO) and land being provided to them outside the city have been fulfilled.  (Additional reporting by Hafeez Tunio)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>IMF criticises petrol price hike reversal</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100321/imf-criticises-petrol-price-hike-reversal</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100321/imf-criticises-petrol-price-hike-reversal#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 11 07:19:57 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=100321</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[IMF says subsidies are inefficient, untargeted and put burden on high income individuals and large companies.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday voiced misgivings about the Pakistani government’s decision to reverse the fuel price hike under pressure from opposition parties.

The body criticised the fuel subsidies that the government will consequently be paying and said the money could be better spent on social programmes.

The International Monetary Fund has an $11 billion loan programme with Pakistan that depends partly on it making painful economic reforms.

"They (subsidies) are inefficient and untargeted so that the bulk of the benefit from the energy subsidy goes to higher income individuals and large companies," IMF spokeswoman Caroline Atkinson said from Washington when asked whether reinstating the subsidies would derail the loan. "We continue to work with Pakistan to see if we can reach agreement on measures that the government can put in place to put its economy on a sounder footing," she said.

Analysts also criticised the decision because they said it would negatively impact Pakistan's fiscal deficit. "This reinforces the feeling ... that political instability is beginning to affect economic decisions," said Sakib Sherani, an independent economist who recently resigned as the economic adviser to the government. "This is very regressive and there is no justification for it," he told Reuters. "We're not presenting any viable fiscal measures to counter the deficit." In 2008, Pakistan linked its domestic oil prices to international oil prices.

The decision to reverse the price hike means the government will have to provide a fuel subsidy, increasing its spending and widening its budget deficit by as much as 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points of gross domestic product in the 2010-2011 fiscal year, Sherani estimated.

A senior Petroleum Ministry official told Reuters that the reversal would cost the government around 5 billion rupees ($58 million) monthly. Combined with a delay in implementing a new reformed general sales tax, analysts said the deficit target of 4.7 percent of GDP for the current fiscal year would be almost impossible to achieve. This could imperil the remaining payments of an $11 billion International Monetary Fund loan to prop up the economy, which is contingent on ending subsidies and widening the tax base.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she warned Pakistan's ambassador to the United States on Tuesday against reversing the price increase. "We have made it clear, as I did in a meeting with their ambassador, that we think it is a mistake to reverse the progress that was being made to provide a stronger economic base for Pakistan and we will continue to express that opinion," Clinton told reporters at a news conference.]]>
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			<title>‘Provincial Assembly likely to be adjourned’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100106/%e2%80%98provincial-assembly-likely-to-be-adjourned%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100106/%e2%80%98provincial-assembly-likely-to-be-adjourned%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 11 05:28:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=100106</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[MQM likely to withdraw adjournment motion on petroleum price hike: Officials.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The session of Sindh Assembly that will open today (on Friday) is likely to be adjourned after offering fateha for slain Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, according to officials.

Meanwhile, according to the assembly agenda, the adjournment motion tabled by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) against the price hike of petroleum products will be discussed in the session.

The motion was submitted by the party’s MPAs Khalid Ahmed, Adil Khan, Heer Ismail Soho, Aleemur Rehman, Tahir Qureshi and Shoaib Ibrahim on Tuesday. However, officials say the motion will be withdrawn by the party following the announcement by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to undo the petroleum price-hike decision on Thursday.

Officials also revealed that the leave application of former Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghualm Rahim is also on the agenda.

The privilege motion of Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Najamuddin Abro is also on the assembly’s agenda.

Meanwhile, officials reveal that an important bill regarding the restoration of the commissionerate system was top priority for the session, but due to the differences between the coalition partners in the Sindh government, it has been dropped from the agenda of the house.

The Removal of Encroachment (amendment) Ordinance 2010-11, Sindh Zakat Ordinance 2010 are also on the agenda along with a question-and-answer session of the ministry of tourism, antiquities and Auqaf, but these items will be deferred till the next day, officials said.

The Sindh Assembly has to complete 100 days during its third parliamentary year, which comes to an end in April 2011. But during the proceedings, it has only completed 60 days.

Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) has also submitted an adjournment motion against the education and literacy department for discontinuing services of 7,187 contract employees.

Meanwhile, a complete report of Sindh Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for the years 2003 to 2005 will be submitted any time during the days of the present session.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Sindh Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee chairman Jam Tamachi Unar said that he has sent the report for binding and will present in the assembly within three to four days.

The PAC will also lay down the appropriation accounts of different departments of the Sindh government for the years 2005 till 2009 before initiating the audit for those years.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Counting the cost: Rs5b monthly burden on public purse</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100271/counting-the-cost-rs5b-monthly-burden-on-public-purse</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/100271/counting-the-cost-rs5b-monthly-burden-on-public-purse#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 11 02:49:45 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Shahbaz Rana]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=100271</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Decision to reverse petrol price hike sends wrong signal to international donors, places additional Rs5b burden.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The government’s decision of reversing the increase in petroleum prices to cool political temperatures has not only sent a wrong signal to international donors,  but will also put an additional burden of Rs5 billion a month on the public purse in the wake of widening gap between income and spending.

Independent experts say the government has portrayed itself to be a “lame duck” giving a negative signal to donors that it cannot stand by its own decisions. Experts term the decision the “death of the economic reforms agenda”.

“The message international donors have received is that if the government cannot absorb the pressure on petrol prices then how can it take up major economic reforms,” said Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan, Dean of Business School of NUST. He said the decision  will not help control inflation, as the benefit of reversing prices will be lost by borrowing money from the State Bank of Pakistan to give subsidies and cover revenue loss.

The government borrowed Rs327 billion from the central bank in six months to finance the budget deficit – a gap between income and spending. The provisional figures show that the budget deficit from July through December soared to 2.9 per cent of the total size of the economy or Rs496 billion. The central bank has labelled the government borrowing inflationary.

The reversal of decision comes at a time when the International Monetary Fund has extended the suspended $11.3 billion bailout programme for nine months till September 2011. The fund is currently discussing with Islamabad to send its team for negotiating parameters for a fifth review of the economy and release of $1.7 billion sixth loan tranche. The IMF team is likely to reach Islamabad in the last week of January. Under the IMF programme, Pakistan abolished the oil subsidy regime in 2009.

“The government is in minority and it is a political decision, not an economic one,” said Dr Hafiz Pasha, the former finance minister.

The Parliamentary Com­mittee will devise a strategy to pass on the increase to the end consumers within a week.  An official of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority said the oil prices are like to surge further in the international market due to a rise in demand in China, Europe and America. He said the current trend cannot be solely termed “seasonal spike”, as China has started generating power by using diesel.

The decision may also delay the due 4.3 per cent increase in electricity prices. The government had earlier decided to increase electricity prices by 2 per cent a month aimed at gradually phasing out subsidy. It had enforced a 4 per cent increase in tariff while the third and fourth phase of these staggered spikes are overdue. Officials have estimated Rs224 billion annual subsidy, provided the government fails to phase out subsidy and take crucial decisions relating to the power sector. All this will lead to a soaring gap between the income and spending and a consequent borrowing to bridge it, which is inflationary.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Reduction in petroleum prices: Government succumbs to pressure</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/99898/gilani-to-brief-political-parties-on-petrol-price-hike</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/99898/gilani-to-brief-political-parties-on-petrol-price-hike#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 11 02:05:06 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=99898</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PM announces reversal of petroleum price hike; US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls the decision a 'mistake'.]]>
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				<![CDATA[In a desperate move expected to temporarily tame a brewing political crisis, the government on Thursday withdrew the recent increase in petroleum prices.

The government apparently succumbed to pressure by opposition groups as Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced in the National Assembly that his government had decided to reverse last week’s decision.

Though a top opposition leader called it “nobody’s victory or defeat,” the decision appeared to be the first setback for the government and the  first signs of weakness since it lost its majority in the parliament after losing support from two allied parties on various grounds.

Gilani hailed it as ‘sagacity’ of the political leadership that helped his administration to take what would have otherwise been an impossible decision.

However, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was a “mistake” for Pakistan to reverse fuel price increases.

Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan immediately welcomed the decision in a move that brought down inflated political temperatures after a week of chaotic bickering, which appeared to be posing existential threat to the government.

It was Nisar’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party that put the government on a three-day notice for agreeing to a set of demands, including an immediate withdrawal of petroleum price hike.

“The path of consensus leads to betterment. Let’s tread it together so that we could fight those ridiculing politicians,” Nisar said in a statement that signaled his party’s willingness to give the government some breathing space.

Gilani spoke to the house after his economic team briefed parliamentary leaders of all political parties on the current economic situation of the country, with special reference to petroleum prices.

It was perhaps for the first time in recent history that an official decision was reversed after pressure by opposition parties and the public.

The government had to face a barrage of criticism from political opponents across the country when it raised prices for different petroleum product by up to nine per cent.

Last week, the government’s largest ally in the centre, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), decided to join the opposition after months of political wrangling. The party cited the price rise as the main reason for quitting the coalition.

Gilani said a parliamentary committee will be formed to make suggestions about how the government can deal with increasing petroleum prices in international markets.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Mounting pressure</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/99980/mounting-pressure</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/99980/mounting-pressure#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 06 Jan 11 19:35:45 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=99980</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Nawaz Sharif has decided to play hardball. The ultimatum he delivered to the PPP has left no doubts on this score.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Nawaz Sharif has decided to play hardball. The ultimatum he delivered to the PPP at a meeting of top party leaders in Islamabad left no doubts on this score. The question is: are the tough demands made by the PML-N possible to meet within the 45-day period Mr Sharif has laid down? The PPP has been given a few days to reply either in the positive or negative.

The demands are such that it may not be possible to make such a response. The issues are complex and, in the context of Pakistan, we all know how difficult it is to bring about change instantly. The nine-point agenda presented by the PML-N seeks, among other things, a reduction in petrol prices, the ouster of corrupt ministers, the appointment of independent members to vacant Election Commission seats and a new accountability law which follows the outline drawn up by the PML-N. Even for a government working at full capacity, this is not an easy set of challenges. For an administration within which inefficiency and disharmony often prevail, it may be impossible to implement the list of demands placed before it.

The PML-N has been in government enough times to know what problems the PPP will face. Though the 72-hour deadline originally set for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer has been extended following the murder of Governor Salmaan Taseer, the PPP faces other difficulties. It is, for instance, locked in a struggle to keep its government intact. Talks continue with allies who have quit the coalition as well as potential new partners. The move by the PML-N is obviously aimed at piling on the pressure at this point. Nawaz Sharif has said the same agenda will be placed before opposition parties if the PPP fails to give an affirmative response. We wonder what the real purpose behind the ultimatum is. Perhaps it is designed to force the PPP to give a negative answer. After all, it is hard to see how corrupt officials can be identified and sacked within days. Perhaps the PML-N just wants to look like the good guy and force the PPP into the role of the villain.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Deciding on the govt’s fate: Q-League’s split decision</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/99810/deciding-on-the-govt%e2%80%99s-fate-q-league%e2%80%99s-split-decision</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/99810/deciding-on-the-govt%e2%80%99s-fate-q-league%e2%80%99s-split-decision#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 06 Jan 11 02:35:36 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[irfan.ghauri]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=99810</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[While the central leadership remains diplomatic, breakaway faction says it is ‘open’ to deals.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The top decision-making body of the PML-Q has decided not to join the PPP-led coalition government, but its breakaway faction says it is ready to strike a bargain with “anyone” offering a “good deal”.

The Central Working Committee of the PML-Q, convened by its chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, decided on Wednesday that it would not support the embattled government nor would it rock the boat.

Speaking at a news conference after the session, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and the party’s Secretary-General Mushahid Hussain Sayed said they would decide future strategies keeping in view the fast-changing political landscape.

About the assassination of Governor Salmaan Taseer, Hussain urged the government to discuss the incident in a joint sitting of both houses of parliament.

Hussain opposed any changes in the controversial blasphemy laws but said that a new law should be enacted to stop their misuse.   On the other hand, the PML-Q (Likeminded Group), the breakaway faction of the party of the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, said on Wednesday that it was ready to strike a bargain with “anyone” offering a “good deal”.

The decision was made in a meeting of the Likeminded group’s Central Executive Committee, headed by Senator Saleem Saifullah Khan, which discussed the country’s overall political situation.

The statement issued by the group after the meeting was stereotypical, criticising the PPP-led coalition and main opposition party, the PML-N, but the group’s information secretary Kashmala Tariq told The Express Tribune that her party was open to dialogue with all parties including the PPP and the PML-N “to steer the country out of the current political crisis”.

“We are open to all … be it PPP, PML-N or PML-Q. We are ready to sit with anyone who can give a better national agenda,” Kashmla Tariq said when asked to give details of her party’s future plans. She said the country was passing through a critical situation and her party was ready to play its role to avert a crisis.

In reality, six sitting MNAs and a couple of senators were among those who attended the meeting, but the group claims that it enjoys the support of at least 10 lawmakers in the National Assembly and six in the Senate and believes that if there is any possibility of the faction joining the government, “more undecided lawmakers in the main PML-Q would join their fold”.

Despite their significant numerical strength, if the group supports the government without the consent of its parent party, their members may have to face the defection clause. However, some leaders of the group claim that among the 51 National Assembly members elected on a PML-Q ticket, only 15 were staunch supporters of the Chaudhrys. The PML-Q’s Like-Minded group says it was also willing to collaborate with the PML-N if it goes for an in-house change via a no-trust motion.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Expressing opinions: ‘MQM, PPP, who cares?’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/99649/expressing-opinions-%e2%80%98mqm-ppp-who-cares%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/99649/expressing-opinions-%e2%80%98mqm-ppp-who-cares%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 05 Jan 11 19:41:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=99649</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[People in Sukkur share their views on MQM leaving the coalition.]]>
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				<![CDATA[“We don’t really care who supports or who leaves the government,” says Ghulam Qasim Lakho, a rickshaw driver in Sukkur. “We just want household items at cheaper rates but that has become an unattainable dream,” he adds.

The Express Tribune interviewed several people in Sukkur city, asking them about their views on the changing political scenario, with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leaving the coalition to sit on the opposition benches in the federal government.

Lakho might have expressed his disinterest in the latest development but he sure had an opinion: “PPP is harvesting what it sowed two-and-a-half years ago.”

Since the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) came into power, they have done nothing for the poor people, he says.

Support for the MQM too was running low, with many people doubting their true reasons for leaving the coalition.

MQM just wants to revive the former local government system and to usurp land in Hyderabad and Karachi, claims Jeay Sindh Mahaaz Chairman Riaz Ahmed Chandio.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party, Dr Qadir Magsi, says MQM just wants to play the hero by sitting on the opposition benches.

“Zardari made a huge mistake by leaving a big national party like the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and joining hands with Muttahida instead,” he opines, adding that MQM had proved to be “weak crutches” for the government.

Now that MQM is not part of the government anymore, their demands should be made public so that everyone can see what kind of a party MQM is, Magsi says. Commenting on the present political scenario, he predicts that the PML-N could play a vital role unless the government chooses to look towards the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) for support. “PML-Q’s support will not be long-term and then the only option left will be to hold midterm elections,” he says. He suggests that the Prime Minister should advise the President to dissolve the National Assembly and announce midterm elections-in which nationalist parties from Sindh will take an active part, he promises.

Sanaullah, who runs a grocery shop, is also critical of the MQM. “Their decision to withdraw support is too late. They should have parted ways earlier,” he says.

Poultry dealer Mohammad Hassan suggests that the PPP should learn a lesson from the split and take some concrete measures to provide relief to the people, who are sick and tired of the rising prices.

Mohammad Amjad, a pesh imam, fell among the more cynical residents. “Nothing will happen, nothing ever happens. What benefits have we gotten from earlier changes [in the government]?” he shrugs. “This country was created in the name of Islam, which emphasises equal human rights. But we don’t even get our basic civic rights here,” he adds before walking away.

But perhaps the most pessimistic of all was Bushra Khatoon, a housewife. “Democracy is not in our blood. We are used to martial laws and the country is once again moving towards a martial law,” she predicts.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Diplomatic visit: President Zardari going to US next week</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98968/pakistans-zardari-to-head-to-us-next-week-islamabad</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98968/pakistans-zardari-to-head-to-us-next-week-islamabad#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 05 Jan 11 04:06:26 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=98968</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The presid­ent is schedu­led to attend Holbro­oke's memori­al and meet US Secret­ary of State.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[President Asif Ali Zardari will visit the US next week, officials in Islamabad confirmed on Tuesday in the wake of a major political crisis that has weakened his government.

President Zardari is scheduled to attend the memorial of Richard Holbrooke, who was the US special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan until his sudden death last month, and meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, they said. “The president will visit the US from January 12. This visit is primarily for the memorial service of Richard Holbrooke but the president will also have meetings with US officials,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Basit. “It is confirmed that he will meet Secretary Clinton. The other meetings are being worked out and hopefully details will be finalised in a day or two,” he added.

The exact duration of his stay would be announced in due course, he added. The US on Monday played down the impact of the present political crisis on the fight against extremism, saying it was focusing instead on strategic ties in its close but troubled alliance with Islamabad. “We’ll continue to work with the Pakistani government. We’re building a strategic relationship with Pakistan,” US State Department spokesperson Philip Crowley told reporters.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>More pressure: Nawaz Sharif gives government ultimatum</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/99314/more-pressure-nawaz-sharif-gives-government-ultimatum</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/99314/more-pressure-nawaz-sharif-gives-government-ultimatum#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 05 Jan 11 02:46:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[irfan.ghauri]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=99314</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Nawaz Sharif presents broad-based nine-point agenda; demands implementation within 45 days.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[In what is being seen to be more a rhetorical lashing than anything else, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has given the already besieged PPP-led government an ultimatum following a key meeting of the party’s central leadership in Islamabad on Tuesday.

Announcing a nine-point agenda placed before the incumbents, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, in a press conference following the meeting, said that the government had 72-hours to respond, “yes or no”.  This deadline was later extended by three days in the wake of the assassination of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer.

However, the PML-N did not speak of bringing a no-confidence motion against the government – nor did the other major party in the National Assembly the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

Spearheaded by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani himself, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has for the last few days been in intense negotiations with the PML-N and PML-Q following the exit of two key coalition allies in the National Assembly – the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Jamaat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-F) –  which caused the government to lose its majority in the house.

Despite the pressure by the PML-N, both it and the PML-Q on Tuesday indicated that they were in no mood to oust the government – at least not immediately.

The PML-N’s major demands include taking back of the decision regarding an increase in petroleum prices, getting rid of corrupt ministers and officials, curtailing unnecessary expenditures, appointment of independent members on vacant seats of the election commission and bringing a new accountability law.

“We are giving a three-day deadline to the government to respond on our nine-point agenda. If it agrees to these points it would have to implement this agenda in the next 45 days otherwise it will not remain in the Punjab government,” former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said after presiding a meeting of the central organising committee of the PML-N.

However after the assassination of Taseer, spokesperson of the PML-N, Ahsan Iqbal, said the deadline had been extended by three days.

Nawaz also said that if the government accepted this nine-point agenda, it would have to implement it by February 20. In case the government fails to do so, his party will put the same agenda before the opposition parties to muster their support, he added. Nawaz hinted that in a scenario where none of these two options worked out the only option would be to go to the masses for snap polls.

Meanwhile, the PML-Q has announced that it would not initiate any move to bring a no-trust motion against the PPP government and has thrown the ball in the PML-N’s court, saying that it is the Nawaz league’s responsibility to take the lead since it has the most number of seats in the opposition.

The PML-Q also held a meeting of its parliamentarians and came up with an almost similar demand set saying that they wanted improvement in governance.

Talking to media after the meeting, the Chaudhry brothers said it is up to the PML-N to prove itself as real opposition and bring a no-trust motion.

“We have 50 members while to move a no-trust motions against leader of the house support of 68 members is required. The PML-N has 90 members in the assembly so they should take the initiative,” president of the Punjab chapter of the Q-league, Pervez Ellahi, remarked without elaborating if his party would support the PML-N in case it brings a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Gilani.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>PML-N extends deadline after Taseer's assassination</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98964/nawaz-gives-gilani-72-hour-deadline-to-accept-pml-n-agenda</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98964/nawaz-gives-gilani-72-hour-deadline-to-accept-pml-n-agenda#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Jan 11 15:05:07 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=98964</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The PML-N had finali­sed an issue-based agenda which the government had 45 days to follow throug­h on.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Tuesday extended its earlier deadline after the assassination of Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer.

The PML-N in its Central Organising Committee meeting chaired by party chief Nawaz Sharif had given Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani 72 hours to accept or reject the PML-N's finalised agenda for the parties to work together. The deadline will now be set for after the three days of mourning.

Sharif said that the meeting finalised a broad, issue-based agenda which the government had 45 days to follow through on, if they chose to accept to work with the PML-N. He added that if the government did not perform effectively on the agenda by February 20, the PML-N may leave the Punjab government. He said the formulated agenda was not the PML-N's but the "people's agenda".

Sharif said that a 30 per cent decrease in government expense was on of their key demands. The plan also includes demands of

According to Express 24/7 correspondent, Sabur Ali Syed, the PML-N decided that it would not, on its own, introduce a no-confidence motion against the prime minister. It was also decided that the PML-N would adopt a very strong and hawkish approach against the policies of the government, especially in the parliament.

The parties met in the backdrop of meetings of their leaders with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday in what analysts described as a desperate bid to shore up support and make new allies after the MQM withdrew.

PML-N's Central Organising Committee meeting discussed the issue of a no-confidence motion against Gilani. Nawaz also apprised party leaders about the meeting between Prime Minister Gilani and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday.

Gilani faces an imminent no-confidence motion in the National Assembly after MQM’s withdrawal stripped the party of its already slender majority in the parliament.

The ruling PPP has 125 members in the National Assembly, 47 short of a simple majority to keep the government in office. It has support from Awami National Party (ANP) with 13 lawmakers, five from the Pir Pagara-led Functional League and around 17 independent members. The PPP needs at least 12 seats to survive in the center.

PML-N had already announced that it would not demand a vote of no confidence in Gilani because to do so would exacerbate instability in the country. The PML-N believes a no-confidence vote would "damage the whole country," chairman Raja Zafar-ul-Haq told Reuters.

PML-N spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said "at the moment, a no-confidence vote does not look like a possibility".
“We will not support the government but we will also not become a part of any conspiracy to topple it,” Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the opposition leader in the National Assembly said.

Nonetheless, if the Nawaz League decides to table a no-confidence motion against Premier Gilani, it’ll need support from the PML-Q, MQM and JUI-F.]]>
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			<title>Govt mulls revising petrol prices</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98938/govt-mulls-revising-petrol-prices</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98938/govt-mulls-revising-petrol-prices#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Jan 11 06:27:44 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=98938</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Finance ministry expected to brief Gilani on economic effects of reversing the petrol price hike.]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The government is mulling a revision in the petroleum price hike that is cited as one of the reasons for the current political crisis. 

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is considering reversing the price of petroleum products in an effort to appease the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) which recently pulled out of the coalition government plunging PPP into a crisis forcing it to seek new allies.

The Finance ministry is expected to brief Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani today (Tuesday) on the economic effects if the government reverses the current increase in petroleum prices.

Sources said if the government withdraws the recent hike in POL prices the economy will be burdened with Rs4 to 5 billion and the government would have to give a subsidy. Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) officials said the tax collection process will suffer if the government decides to give a subsidy to the people. Moreover, the decision is also expected to undermine agreements signed with the international donors for gradual withdrawal of subsidies.

Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) officials are also scheduled to attend the meeting.]]>
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			<title>Last-gasp attempt: Malik may fly to London to woo Altaf</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98853/last-gasp-attempt-malik-may-fly-to-london-to-woo-altaf</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98853/last-gasp-attempt-malik-may-fly-to-london-to-woo-altaf#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Jan 11 02:49:39 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=98853</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Malik meets Governor Ebad in efforts to bring the former ally back into the fold.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Interior Minister Rehman Malik is likely to jet off to London to have a tete-a-tete with Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain and attempt to woo his party back into the coalition fold, sources said on Monday.

Meanwhile, negotiations between the MQM and the PPP continued on Monday at the Governor House following the announcement by the former to sit on the opposition benches in the National Assembly and the Senate.

Rehman Malik, who had flown in from Islamabad, held a one-on-one meeting with Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan following the oath-taking ceremony for Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman. President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath.

The interior minister headed straight to Bilawal House after the meeting and briefed the President about the latest situation. Leaders of both the parties kept mum over the issue as no one was willing to share the outcome of the negotiations.

Sources said that there are strong chances of the interior minister flying to London to have a detailed meeting with MQM chief Altaf Hussain.

Earlier, talking to reporters outside the Governor House, Rehman Malik said that the PPP and MQM have been doing politics under their own manifestos, but reservations of the Muttahida will be addressed soon.

He said it has been of paramount importance to the PPP government to take coalition partner MQM on board for the sake of maintaining law and order and ensuring development of the metropolis.

He added that the parliament will complete its tenure under the leadership of the incumbent prime minister. “Yousaf Raza Gilani is a unanimously elected prime minister ... we know how to use our cards. The PPP does not believe in horse-trading and it knows how to tackle the situation if anyone moves a no-confidence motion against the premier,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Cautious opposition: No no-confidence motion, yet</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98879/cautious-opposition-no-no-confidence-motion-yet</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98879/cautious-opposition-no-no-confidence-motion-yet#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Jan 11 02:41:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=98879</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Rise in petroleum prices evoke protests; ANP comes to govt’s rescue.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Opposition parties on Monday intensified criticism of the government’s economic policies in the National Assembly, but appeared to be shying away from posing any direct threat to an administration that has lost parliamentary majority.

There was hardly any direct reference to a no-trust motion against the prime minister as the house met for the first time since the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) decided to quit the ruling coalition.

As Prime Minster Yousaf Raza Gilani remained busy in Lahore in trying to find new partners to keep his fragile ruling coalition intact, several cabinet members in the house appeared humbled by the latest political developments.

Amid anti-government chants and desk-thumping by opposition lawmakers and back-to -back walkouts against  the increase in petroleum prices, the Awami National Party (ANP), the only remaining ally, came to the government’s rescue.

ANP Chief Asfandyar Wali Khan suggested that parliamentary leaders from all political parties should have a meeting with Premier Gilani on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of reducing petroleum prices back to their previous level.

The proposal proved to be a breather for the government as Deputy Speaker Faisal Kundi adjourned the house for Tuesday afternoon after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also endorsed it.

MQM members, who staged a token walkout from the house to protest against the fuel price increase, followed by members of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), had some reservation on the adjournment motion, but Kundi decided to go ahead with it.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the increase in petroleum prices last month had shaken the government.

“The government is scrambling … it is facing problems because of its own actions. It has lost many opportunities to improve governance, but it still has a chance if the prime minister announces a strategy to resolve problems,” Nisar said in his speech.

He then asked the government to immediately announce a withdrawal of the increase; the demand punctuated by desk thumping and sloganeering from members of his party.

But a more direct threat to the government came from PML-N’s Khwaja Saad Rafiq who called for improving governance and throwing out whom he described as corrupt ministers. “All of you will be going home if you don’t improve governance,” Rafiq said while addressing members of the treasury benches.

Published in The Express Tribune, January  4th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Political instability: Alarm bells go off in the West as situation worsens</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98888/political-instability-alarm-bells-go-off-in-the-west-as-situation-worsens</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98888/political-instability-alarm-bells-go-off-in-the-west-as-situation-worsens#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Jan 11 02:31:01 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[kamran.yousaf]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Key western countries closely watching developments unfold; say instability could hamper campaign against terrorism.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Key western countries, including the United States, are closely watching developments unfold on Pakistan’s political scenario and have expressed fears that political instability could hamper the campaign against terrorism in the region.

A decision by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to quit the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government has pushed the country into a serious political crisis, as theoretically Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s  administration has lost its majority in the National Assembly.

Unprecedented developments have set off alarm bells in western countries which have high stakes in Pakistan.

“This is the last thing we want … a political mess in Pak­is­­tan,” said a western diplomat.

“We are facing a difficult situation in Afghanistan and 2011 is crucial for us … if the situation worsens in Pakistan, things will become very complicated,” warned the diplomat, who wished not to be identified.

Other diplomatic missions have similar apprehensions. “We are monitoring the developments very closely and we hope things remain under control,” a US diplomat told The Express Tribune.

The diplomat said an amicable solution to the current political crisis was not only important for the west’s battle against extremism but also vital for Pakistan’s own interest.

Political uncertainty, analysts say, may distract the government from more pressing issues, ranging from economic woes to militancy.

It also comes at a time when the Obama administration is pushing Pakistan to do more to turn the tide in Afghanistan, although security is largely the purview of the country’s powerful military.

“We do not want Pakistan to be preoccupied with political issues to the extent where it gets distracted from the real problems,” the US diplomat said.

However, he hoped Pakistan’s political system had the resilience to overcome the current challenge.

“We also understand that democracy is evolving here. We don’t want to speculate at this stage,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Telephone talk: PPP stands by you, Zardari tells premier</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98877/telephone-talk-ppp-stands-by-you-zardari-tells-premier</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98877/telephone-talk-ppp-stands-by-you-zardari-tells-premier#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Jan 11 02:22:35 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[irfan.ghauri]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=98877</guid>
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				<![CDATA[PML-N and PML-Q top leaders meet separately today to chalk out future course of action.]]>
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				<![CDATA[President Asif Ali Zardari has put to rest a guessing game about his embattled government at a time when opposition parties are weighing their options a day after the coalition government lost a slender majority in the National Assembly.

President Zardari threw his weight behind Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who apparently does not command the majority in the lower house of parliament, and assured him that the ruling party stands behind him.

“The Pakistan Peoples Party and its Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari have full confidence in Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and stand behind him in foiling any attempt to destabilise the coalition government,” said a statement issued by presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar.

While reposing confidence in his ability as the leader of the house, the president hoped that  Premier Gilani would complete his five-year term, notwithstanding manipulations against him, Babar said.

President Zardari telephoned the premier and talked to him about the recent political developments. He assured Gilani of full support on behalf of the ruling party.

The presidential spokesperson also rubbished media reports suggesting that the prime minister was alone in the battle for his survival. “The prime minister is not alone. The party stands behind him. Let there be no doubt about it,” he added.

In a delicate political situation where a single move can cost the PPP its government, the ruling party’s top leaders believe it’s not easy for any political party to govern while the country is embroiled in serious economic and security crises. The Nawaz Sharif-led faction of the Pakistan Muslim League, the second largest party in the National Assembly, doesn’t want to rock the boat, or at least it appears so.

“We will not support the government but we will also not become a part of any conspiracy to topple it,” Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the opposition leader in the National Assembly said.

Nonetheless, if the Nawaz League decides to table a no-confidence motion against Premier Gilani, it’ll need support from the PML-Q, MQM and JUI-F. But Sharif’s party has never had good relations with these parties.

PML-N’s top leaders will join their heads together today (Tuesday) in Islamabad to chalk out a future course of action in the backdrop of the fast-changing political landscape. However, political pundits don’t expect any major change in the party’s line.

At the same time, the Chaudhrys of Gujrat have also started weighing their options. Their party, the Q-League, the third largest group in the National Assembly, suddenly finds itself in a significant position.

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has also convened a crucial meeting of PML-Q’s parliamentary party today (Tuesday) to discuss a future strategy. And its Central Working Party will meet on Wednesday.

The Salim Saifullah-led PML-Q Likeminded, a breakaway faction of the former ruling party, has also called a meeting of its Central Executive Committee on January 5 to weigh its options. The Likeminded group claims the support of over a dozen MNAs but their parent party says that the breakaway faction doesn’t have the support of more than seven lawmakers.

Since the PML-Q Likeminded group is not registered as a separate party with the Election Commission, in case of divergent policies on a possible no-confidence vote, its lawmakers may face disqualification.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Political temperatures rise: Govt scrambles to survive</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98886/political-temperatures-rise-govt-scrambles-to-survive</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98886/political-temperatures-rise-govt-scrambles-to-survive#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Jan 11 02:16:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[anwer.sumra]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=98886</guid>
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				<![CDATA[Gilani goes into overdrive, meets top opposition party leaders.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Beleaguered Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani threw himself headlong into meetings with the top leaders of two major opposition parties on Monday as the ruling party began a frantic search for new coalition partners.

During a three-and-a-half-hour meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Gilani spoke about the political fallout from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) decision to sit on the opposition benches in parliament. Both men agreed to meet again and come up with more suggestions. They also broached the issue of petroleum prices, inflation in general and the suspension of gas and electricity supply.

Shahbaz is expected to share with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s policymaking unit the gist of his discussions with the premier. Only then will the party take a final decision on whether to support the government or not.

Later in the day, Gilani went to the residence of the head of the Pakistan Muslim League–Quaid (PML-Q) Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. Gilani told reporters after the meeting that Chaudhry Shujaat had promised to back him in case a no-trust motion was brought against him in parliament. He claimed that he had won assurances from the PML-Q that it would not allow the system to derail. However, Gilani said, the PML-Q support was conditional on good governance.

“I never had a majority on my side in the past but my three-year term is unprecedented in the history of the country,” the premier remarked. In the past he said the PML-Q has extended him a vote of confidence and had supported his party on principle in times of crisis.

Speaking on the occasion, Chaudhry Shujaat said that his party was not against the government and had no desire to blackmail it but added that the government should cut the price of electricity.

On Monday, a delegation of  Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl led by Maulana Abdul Gafoor Haideri also met Chaudhry Shujaat and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Haideri made it clear that the JUI-F had no intention of rejoining the government. At the same time, the JUI secretary general called upon the prime minister to step down because his party had lost its majority in parliament.

Chaudhry Shujaat was noncommittal about the ultimate stand his party would take. The decision to support or oppose the prime minister was a difficult one to make, especially in a single meeting. But in the country’s interest he said his party would take a decision after consulting other party members.

Maulana Haideri was a little more candid though, indicating that both the parties had decided to “play their true role of opposition” in the National Assembly, opposing every wrong move of the government.

On whether his party intended to quit the provincial government in Balochistan, Maulana Haideri said that such a move would be taken after analysing the situation in the province.

Commenting on the MQM’s defection to the opposition benches in parliament, Maulana Haideri said the party had brought about a radical change in the political equation. He heaped scorn at the PML-N and its leaders for not playing the role of an opposition party and insisting it would not be a part of any resolution against the prime minister in the National Assembly.

For his part Chaudhry Shujaat  said that he would make his stand clear after meeting with the prime minister and his party leaders. However, former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi dared the PML-N to make its stance public before that. (With input from wires)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>‘PPP not worried about its power in Sindh’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98706/%e2%80%98ppp-not-worried-about-its-power-in-sindh%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/98706/%e2%80%98ppp-not-worried-about-its-power-in-sindh%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 03 Jan 11 19:28:27 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Hafeez Tunio]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=98706</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[MQM ponders over breaking alliance in the provincial government as well.]]>
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				<![CDATA[After the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) parted ways with the federal government, the next step, according to its leadership, might be a similar decision in Sindh, where they are also in coalition with the ruling party.

The MQM is serious when it says it wants to resolve public issues, said the MQM deputy parliamentary leader in the National Assemby, Haider Abbas Rizvi. Sitting on the opposition beaches was the second step, following the resignation of their ministers. Now they are considering that the third step might be breaking their alliance with the PPP government in Sindh, he said. Political analysts say their resignation in Sindh will make no difference, since out of the total 169 members of the house, the MQM has only 51 seats.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has 93 members, sufficient for a simple majority. Its other coalition partners include the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), which has eight seats, the National Peoples’ Party that has three and the Awami National Party (ANP) which has two seats. Meanwhile, among the 11 members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), a few members are willing to support the PPP for “the sake of democracy”.

The PPP is willing to accept most of MQM’s demands because running the district administrations, especially in Karachi and Hyderabad, will be difficult if the parties are confronting one another. “After withdrawing its support from the federal and provincial governments, the party [MQM] has to ask the governor to tender his resignation. Besides, administrators in different towns have been appointed under a mutual understanding,” said Tauseef Ahmed, an analyst and former chairman of the mass communication department in the Federal Urdu University. According to him, if the MQM was to join the opposition, the law and order situation in the city would deteriorate drastically. Moreover, student clashes in educational institutions would increase. Management of KBCA and the water board will also become a problem.

The PPP might not require any party’s support in the number game but they need MQM to help them run the government here, Ahmed added.

The PPP, however, seems less than worried. Talking to The Express Tribune, senior PPP leader Taj Haider said that the decision to part ways with the government is an attempt to destabilise the democratic government.

But PPP has already calculated how it will save democracy, he said confidently.  He ruled out speculations that the president wanted to remove the prime minister and that the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazlur Rehman’s demand was linked to it. “The prime minister has the full support of our party and no one opposes him,” he said.  When asked about the recent meeting of the prime minister with leaders of PML-Q, whom they used to call the “Qaatil League”, he responded that anything is possible to save democracy.

On the other hand, a senior PPP leader, who requested anonymity, said, “If Muttahida is really sincere about breaking away because of inflation and petroleum price hikes, then why does the Sindh governor not resign?” He said that it is nothing else but tactics to put pressure on the PPP to meet its demands, which include freeing MQM workers who have been arrested for alleged involvement in target killings, restoring the local government system and handing over of hundreds of acres of land off the Super Highway to the district government. “If the commissioner system is restored and the five defunct districts are reinstated then MQM will be confined to the central district and the PPP will get votes in Malir, Gadap, South and East zones,” he said, explaining why the MQM was opposed to the commissioner system.

Rizvi, however, has denied these allegations and said that his party broke away from the coalition simply in the public interest.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2011.]]>
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