ISLAMABAD, Jan 10: Coalition partners went into an emergency meeting on Tuesday night to review the situation arising out of the Supreme Court's ruling in the NRO implementation case and decided to convene a session of the National Assembly on Thursday evening to chalk out a future course of action.
The meeting was held immediately after arrival of President Asif Ali Zardari from Karachi. The president chaired the meeting which was also attended by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
"Before the National Assembly session a joint meeting of parliamentary parties will be held in the Parliament House to work out a strategy to be adopted during the assembly session," president's spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.
The president and the prime minister also chaired a meeting of the PPP core committee to discuss various challenges faced by the government, including early general elections, 'memogate' scandal and the court verdict on the NRO implementation case.
"The heads of allied parliamentary parties suggested that a session of the National Assembly be urgently called to discuss political issues," Mr Babar said, adding that it would be held at 4pm on Thursday.
The apex court gave six options to the government to implement its verdict on the NRO. Some TV channels quoted President Zardari as telling the coalition partners that he had been the president only because of their support and that he could not stay in the office without it.
The president's arrival in Islamabad trashed rumours that he was leaving for Dubai. He first held a meeting with Prime Minister Gilani in the Presidency. The president and the prime minister later met leaders of coalition parties and discussed with them measures to overcome the prevailing crises.
The coalition partners' meeting was attended by Pakistan Muslim League-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Farooq Sattar, Afrasiab Khattak, MirIsrarullah Zehri, Babar Khan Ghauri, Munir Khan Orakzai, Khursheed Shah, Babar Awan, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Farhatullah Babar.
Farhatullah Babar said: "The meeting discussed the current political situation with particular reference to the latest developments."
Meanwhile, Chaudhry Shujaat suggested after a meeting with PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf that all persons concerned should sit together and find a way to resolve the memo issue which, according to him, had really got on people's nerves.
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