August 18, 2008	Monday	Sha'aban 15, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Aug 17: The ruling coalition has consolidated its position in the Senate as many members of the previous ruling party – Pakistan Muslim League (PML) – and few independent senators have assured Leader of the House in Senate Raza Rabbani that they will vote in support of the impeachment resolution against President Pervez Musharraf.

Sources told Dawn that some senators of the PML forward bloc, formed by Senator Nilofar Bakhtiar, had already approached Mr Rabbani and assured their support for the move to impeach the president.

An independent senator from Sindh Amin Dadabhoy on Sunday not only announced support for the impeachment move, but also formally joined the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Mr Dadabhoy, who had voted twice for President Musharraf in the Senate, made the announcement at a press conference with Senator Rabbani at the media centre of the Press Information Department.

He said he was joining the PPP as it was the only party which had been rendering great services for the cause of democracy in the country.

Mr Dadabhoy said he and his family had a close association with the PPP since the time of “Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto”. He said he remained an active member of the People’s Students Federation (PSF) during his college time.

In response to a question, the senator, who remained on the treasury benches throughout the PML government’s tenure, justified his decision of voting for President Musharraf in the past by saying he did it considering that the things were moving in the right direction at that time. “Whatever I did during the last year was for the betterment of the country,” he said.

Mr Rabbani on this occasion welcomed Mr Dadabhoy in the party fold.