ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: It is a make-or-break night, said knowledgeable sources here on Wednesday who believe that the government would do away with the law banning floor-crossing tonight or tomorrow if the ongoing behind-the-scene talks between the government and PPP failed to come up with an solution for the problems in the way of government formation.

They expect the relevant ordinance to be issued at the latest on Thursday after the last cabinet meeting.

However, in case the talks succeed, they believe Asif Ali Zardari would be immediately shifted to his house in Islamabad, and then flown for medical treatment to the UAE where his spouse Benazir Bhutto and their children are living since the former prime minister’s self-imposed exile.

Sources who know well what is going on in the capital said that Asif had had two meetings with the relevant authorities, one on Tuesday and the other on Wednesday in this regard. They also refer to Benazir’s meeting with the US assistant secretary of state for South Asia Christina Rocca in Washington on Wednesday and said this too was part of the talks between the PPP and government.

The regime wants the People’s Party Parliamentarians to sign on the dotted lines on a deal which would keep Asif out of the country for good, and Benazir out of Pakistan, at least for the next five years.

The PPP chairperson is said to have already told the relevant authorities that she would not agree to such a deal.

On the other hand, President Pervez Musharraf is said to have conveyed to all concerned that he would not, at any cost, agree to let Asif and Benazir return to Pakistani politics as long as he is at the helm of affairs.

With the defection clause out of the way the government hopes that the PML-Q would be able to entice at least 20-25 MNAs from the MMA, PPP and the PML-N and form a government with a comfortable majority.

However, those who know the mind of present-day Punjab politics expressed the fear that if the defection clause was out of the way many MNAs (at least 20) who had been forced to join the PML-Q by the establishment would defect back to their mother parties. And this would cause a major setback for the government, they added.

The success of talks, on the other hand, would also mean that the PPP would be invited to form government with the PML-Q with Makhdoom Amin Fahim being voted as the leader of the House.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim is said to be in contact with the government since Oct 11 as the latter reportedly had encouraged him to work for the formation of a government of national unity. In this he is reported to have also received Benazir’s approval soon after Oct 10.

However, the PPP is said to have also assured the MMA that in case the religious alliance decided not to withdraw Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s candidature for the PM’s slot, the PPP would extend its full support to him.

On the other hand, the government is said to have offered to the MMA to bring in a law which would allow an MNA to be elected chief minister of a province with the proviso that he would get himself elected to the provincial assembly within three months.

This would enable the MMA to send Maulana Fazlur Rehman to NWFP, “and that is the reason why Qazi Hussain Ahmad has been elected leader of the parliamentary party in the national assembly by the MMA here on Wednesday” informed sources confided.

In case the government insisted that the PM should be from the PML-Q then sources said the PPP and MMA would rather prefer to sit on the opposition benches.

Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan is said to have assured the component parties of the ARD that he would be able to bring the MMA on board and help form a government at the centre, minus the PML-Q.

This is the reason why the PPP is said to have agreed to allow the Nawabzada a day or two to come up with enough numbers to help form a government of his liking.