ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: The Federal Law Minister, Khalid Ranjha, said on Monday he expected parliament to be called by the end of the week, but rival parties appeared no closer to agreeing on a coalition to form the country’s first civilian government in three years.

Khalid Ranjha told newsmen plans to call parliament had not changed. “The government has decided to call the session of the National Assembly immediately — before the end of this week,” he said.

However, asked if there had been any progress towards forming a coalition, Azeem Chaudhry, a spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, replied: “There has been no change from day one. There is complete deadlock.”

Parliament was supposed to have convened last Friday, but the deadlock caused President Pervez Musharraf to announce a delay of about a week, a move critics said was aimed at buying time for pro-military parties. —Reuters