October 18, 2002	Friday	Sha'aban 11, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 17: The National Alliance on Thursday named former president Sardar Farooq Leghari as its parliamentary leader in the National Assembly but said the candidate for prime minister’s slot would be decided by the Grand National Alliance.

NA Secretary-General Mohammad Ali Durrani told a press conference at the party’s secretariat that his alliance and the GNA, which includes the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam), would name a prime ministerial candidate and work out a strategy to establish a stable government.

The name of Sardar Leghari was proposed by former prime minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi in the NA parliamentary group’s meeting, which was seconded by National Awami Party Pakistan chief Ajmal Khattak.

Mr Durrani said the complex situation demanded governments of national consensus at the centre and in the provinces with an understanding on vital issues.

“A coalition government having differences among its constituents would serve no purpose,” he said.

He was flanked by NA Information Secretary Mahmood Hashmi and Haji Hanif Tayyub.

He said Sardar Leghari was meeting leaders of different parties, including Chaudhry Shujaat, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani and Maulana Samiul Haq, to create a consensus, but conceded that no contact had been established with Pakistan People’s Party.