Upping the ante: PML-N not to support Gilani in no-trust vote

PML-N says it will not vote for Gilani if there is a no-confidence motion against him in the National Assembly.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) says it will not vote for Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani if a there is no-confidence motion against him in the National Assembly.

“We will not vote for Gilani, if coalition parties withdraw support for him,” leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told journalists on Wednesday.

The statement came just two days after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) pulled out of the federal cabinet, though the party said it would still continue to support the government.

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), another erstwhile coalition partner, has already quit the cabinet and is now preparing to join the opposition.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Tuesday urged President Asif Zardari to sack Gilani whom he accused of sabotaging Zardari’s policy of reconciliation. Though there hasn’t been any official word from the PPP, Gilani will have to seek a vote of confidence from the house if coalition partners part ways with the government.

In case the MQM joins the opposition, Gilani’s administration would have to seek support from either the PML-N or the PML-Q. But Nisar said his party would not support a crumbling coalition, notwithstanding his party chief Nawaz Sharif’s repeated statements that he would never like to see democracy getting derailed again.

PML-N  leaders will converge in Lahore today (Thursday) to decide the future strategy. A PPP office-bearer said the party was not considering seeking Sharif’s support in any case.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2010.