April 23, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1429

ISLAMABAD, April 22: All the ministers belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) kept themselves away from the parliamentary party meeting of the ruling coalition presided over by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani before start of the National Assembly session here on Tuesday.

Though the absence of the PML-N ministers apparently seems to be a coincidence, some of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) members say they smell some rat in it, particularly after the reports that the two parties have different points of view on the issue of judges’ restoration.

Talking to Dawn, a PPP MNA said the overall behaviour of the PML- N members in the National Assembly was not so positive and on some occasions, the PML-N members played the role of the opposition and even tried to create difficulties for the PPP ministers during the ongoing session.

Five PML-N members even submitted a calling attention notice on the issue of the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in what appeared to be a move to bring some humiliation for the PPP, which is considered to be the main beneficiary of the ordinance, which was promulgated by President Pervez Musharraf as a result of a deal with the party leadership last year. However, Law Minister Farooq Naek opposed discussion on the NRO terming the matter as ‘subjudice’.

When contacted, chief whip of the PML-N Sheikh Aftab Ahmed said that his party ministers were busy in some other engagements due to which they could not make it to the parliamentary party meeting. Moreover, he said, that he had not informed the party members about the Tuesdays meeting. He said it was a coincident that the PML-N ministers were not present in the meeting. He said even most of the PPP ministers were not present in the meeting. Sources said Sherry Rehman, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Syed Khursheed Shah were the only ministers present in the meeting.

Parliamentary secretary of the PPP Izhar Amrohvi told Dawn that some 150 members of the ruling coalition parties attended the meeting.

He said the prime minister told the participants the government had decided to allocate Rs1 million for each member, including the opposition members, of the National Assembly and the Senate to carry out development activities in their respective constituencies.

He asked the members to submit their proposals in one month time so that the leftover amount from the development funds could be utilized before the announcement of the next year’s budget in June.

Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf briefed the members on the prevailing energy crisis. The minister also asked the members to submit their proposals as to how the load- shedding issue could be tackled in their respective areas. The prime minister also told the members that the government had decided to import wheat in order to meet the shortage of flour in the country. Moreover, he said, the government had directed the provincial governments to allow inter-district movement of wheat.