ISLAMABAD, April 30: It may not be a merry month of May for Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali as rough political winds appear to be on the cards.

Now that he has returned home from one of the most comprehensive foreign trips of his tenure to date, the prime minister seems set to plunge into problems, including a new speculation about his political future that got into focus during his 10-day absence.

Though he has put on a brave face against any possible threat from within the ruling coalition by saying on Friday - on return from a four-nation Far Eastern tour - that the present assemblies will complete their terms, there are a lot of other ticklish matters as well that Mr Jamali has to deal with in May.

They include finalization of a troubled National Finance Commission (NFC) award on the share of provinces in federal revenues, the budget for fiscal 2004-05, a projected merger of all factions of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and the possible return of an important exiled opposition politician.

But a limited but mysterious controversy about the future of the prime minister's 17-month-old cabinet seemed to be of immediate concern as it could impinge on his relationship with PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain who controls the ruling party.

Though Chaudhry Shujaat has repeatedly denied that the demand by at least one PML-Q official for Mr Jamali to step down for allegedly failing to give a good governance to the country was his by proxy, the prime minister intends to meet the party chief to sort out the matter.

The prime minister himself provided some fuel to the guessing game during his foreign tour by bemoaning the fate of his recent predecessors who could not implement their programmes because they did not complete their tenures.

Political observers said this seemed to be an expression of his fears about himself or an emphasis that he must complete his five-year tenure to complete his development programmes.

The controversy erupted before the leaders of the PML-Q and five other factions are due to meet on May 2 to decide on the long-delayed merger, which is to be followed by the merger in the enlarged party by former president Farooq Leghari's National Alliance.

Political sources said it would be natural for a new PML - after the projected mergers - to either reiterate confidence in Mr Jamali or look around for some other best man to replace him.

But the sources ruled out any prime ministerial change so long as Mr Jamali continues to enjoy the confidence of President Pervez Musharraf, who appears to enjoy complete allegiance of the ruling coalition, which also includes PML-Q allies such as the breakaway PPP-Patriots and PPP-Sherpao, and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

The sources said the latest jibes at Mr Jamali could also be mere tactical moves to influence his selection of more ministers for his cabinet, whose promised expansion remains incomplete, or to warn some difficult elements within the ruling coalition and opposition about the vagaries of new elections if the present National Assembly were dissolved.

Since his election to the office by the National Assembly in November 2002 by only a single-vote majority, opposition parties in parliament have repeatedly assured the prime minister they would not try to topple him if he worked for a full restoration of democracy.

But he does not seem to be attracting similar opposition sentiments in the present controversy, which is also likely to echo in the Senate session called for May 4 at opposition's request.

Despite opposition urgings, Mr Jamali has so far refused to follow into the footsteps of former military president General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq's handpicked prime minister Mohammad Khan Junejo, who invited his own removal in 1988 after he ignored his mentor to take independent decisions like signing the Geneva peace accord on Afghanistan and trying to mend fences with his political opponents.

Plans announced by exiled Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Shahbaz Sharif to return home before May 10 have added to Mr Jamali's political worries. Although the prime minister and some of his ministers have expressed their belief the former chief minister of the Punjab province will not yet end his exile along with his elder brother and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the government is likely to take a final a decision within a few days whether or not to arrest the PML leader on his arrival.

Besides political issues, the most ticklish problem besetting Mr Jamali's government is a common demand by all the four provinces to be given a 50 per cent share in the divisible federal pool in the NFC award for the next five years - against the federal willingness to give up to 47 per cent.

The long-delayed award must be settled before the government finalizes the 2004-05 budget, which in turn has to take into account how the country tackles its fiscal problems without International Monetary Fund support that it says it no longer needs.