ISLAMABAD, Nov 7: The postponement of the first session of the newly-elected National Assembly seems to be calculated move by the government to give a lifeline for its loyalists, also aimed to block the emergence of a religio-political prime minister.
Wednesday’s postponement for about a week of the session, earlier set for Friday, came only a day after two main opposition alliances struck a deal to put up a joint candidate for prime minister with credible signs of support to win the race for the top slot.
On the other hand, the Pakistan Muslim League (Q), whom critics call the “king’s party”, had failed to prove its claim of support of 180 members, eight more than the required majority in the 342-seat house.
Although the official announcement said the postponement was only for “about a week”, sources said the period could be more than a week if the PML(Q) failed to cobble together a majority by winning over non- committed groups or wavering members from opposition parties.
While the postponement spurred speculation about possible new contacts between the 118-seat PML(Q) and the 81-seat People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) for a stable coalition, the PPP came out with a denial that it was making a secret deal with the government, complained of attempts by intelligence agencies to coerce party deputies to switch sides.
“The midnight knocks at the doors of PPP legislators have since been stepped up but the legislators are not deterred,” a PPP statement on Thursday said.
“There is no secret deal between the PPP and the military government,” it said. “There will never be. Let there be no doubt or mistake about it.”
Sources said the PML(Q) was aiming at winning over 25 to 30 opposition deputies to ensure victory for its prime ministerial nominee Zafrullah Khan Jamali against likely ARD-MMA candidate Maulana Fazlur Rehman, a supporter of Afghanistan’s vanquished Taliban movement said.
But sources said the government could break away no more than five to six of their legislators, who would not be enough for a stable coalition and could face a bleak political future in an expected early next election.
The postponement move succeeded in creating some rift in the ARD-MMA alliance with some MMA leaders accusing the PPP of riding in two boats at the same time.
A PPP spokesman said the MMA was yet to come back with a response to still unspecified proposals made by the PPP to be entered in a formal coalition agreement, whose absence is holding up the formal announcement of joint candidates for prime minister and speaker.
Political sources said while Gen Musharraf, who wants to remain president for five more years, was seeking to have pliant prime minister rather than a friend of the Taliban who could undermine Pakistan’s key role in the US-led war against terrorism.
The ARD and MMA have come together on a programme seeking supremacy of parliament and opposition to the sweeping powers President Musharraf has assumed through his controversial decrees.
NOT SERIOUS: It is now clear that the government was not serious from the beginning about holding the session on Friday when it gave that date on Saturday through a government statement after persistent demands by most political parties for an early sitting.
No formal notification for the session was issued, and then came a bit of a spanner from Chief Election Commissioner, Irshad Hassan Khan, who said he could not preside it.
The postponement means President Musharraf, who issued a spate of ordinances in recent weeks, can issue more of them until the National Assembly meets and elects a prime minister.
