Pressure remains high on the PPP

MQM boycotts both houses for the second day.

ISLAMABAD: As the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) kept up its pressure on the government, opposition groups said on Thursday there were other ways of changing the government than a mid-term election or a military takeover.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) warned the Pakistan Peoples Party government against ‘poor governance,’ as MQM continued its boycott of the National Assembly and the Senate for the second day running.

In what sounded to be a rejoinder to Gilani’s speech to the house two days ago in which the premier snubbed those demanding mid-term polls or predicting a coup, Chaudhry Nisar said there were options other than that. “There are some other weapons as well in our armoury…they can be more lethal,” warned Chaudhry Nisar.

Earlier, he indicated  that his party may seek an in-house change, a direct reference to bringing a no-confidence move to dislodge Gilani and the government of the PPP. Chaudhry Nisar said his party never spoke about mid-term polls and would not like to see a military takeover. He predicted that the administration would collapse instantly “if any of the four allied groups in the coalition government withdrew from the alliance”. The MQM nearly fell out with the government after both sides differed on the recent blood shed in Karachi. The PPP-led ruling coalition desperately needs the support of 25 MQM lawmakers in the NA.

But sceptics said all was not well with this “uncomfortable” alliance and the PPP’s recent overtures to the PML-Q, a group with over 50 National Assembly seats, was not without reason.

Bills

The National Assembly passed two bills, including one aimed at giving the central bank more autonomy by replacing an outdated mechanism of coordination between fiscal and monetary policies.

The State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2010 would amend an act of 1956 and come into force at once.  State Minister for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar presented the bill to the house and said it would transform the SBP into a modern central bank. She said the proposed amendments would be conducive to the changing global economic and regulatory environment.

The other bill was regarding changing the Industrial Development bank of Pakistan (IDBP) into a public limited company.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2010.