‘Official poll results ready’

By M. Ziauddin

LONDON, Dec 10: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), now minus the Jamaat-i-Islami, is expected to hold the balance in the next National Assembly as the January 8 elections are estimated officially to throw up largely a hung house.

These estimates which the PPP and the PML-N sources here believe have been drawn up by the intelligence agencies in the first week of the current month have given the PML-Q 115 seats followed by PPP (90), MMA (45), PML-N (40), MQM (20) and ANP (12) in a house of 342.

These estimates are said to have been made on the basis of the ‘strength’ of each party constituency-wise plus individual candidate’s own ‘ability’ to pull voters and the political affiliation of the nazims in the constituency.

The sources who did not wish to be identified alleged that the official plan was to rig the polls in such a way as to deny a clear majority to any of the contesting parties so as to place President Pervez Musharraf in a position of cobbling together a coalition of his choice which, according to the American script, is a coalition of the PML-Q and the PPP.

However, if the PML-Q and the PPP wished to make their own governments without the other, which many here fear is what the two parties would try their best to achieve first, Musharraf’s desire and American script notwithstanding, they would need to enlist the support of the MMA because a coalition of the PPP, PML-N and ANP would fall short by 30 votes, if the above official estimates come true, while the PML-Q would require another 17 votes to form a government even after the addition of 20 each from the MQM and smaller parties like PML-F and PPP (Sherpao) etc.

But then since a coalition with the MMA would not make Washington all that happy, Musharraf would probably try his best to scuttle any such move either by the PML-Q or the PPP, sources said.

This, they said, would then lead to a long drawn political wrangling and intense attempts at horse-trading which they fear would finally culminate into invalidation of January 8 elections and the president calling for fresh elections in June.

They, however, did not rule out the possibility of the original official estimates undergoing further changes in the remaining three weeks to the polls which could swing in favour of the PPP and the PML-N in case the two succeeded in forcing the government into accepting some of their demands included in the Charter of Demands.

Or, they said, the PML-Q in panic fearing losing their voters to the PML-N could go on a spree of rigging full throttle undermining the very credibility of the elections both inside and outside the country, to be followed by a kind of Orange revolution a la Ukraine which again could to lead to fresh elections in June.

Sources said that even if there was no Orange revolution the new government led by the PML-Q with a single digit majority would not last long unless of course it enlists the support of the MMA even at the cost of annoying the US.

Democracy, devolution top PML(Q) manifesto

By Ahmed Hassan

ISLAMABAD, Dec 10: The Pakistan Muslim League (Q) unveiled its election manifesto on Monday, which focuses on five Ds — democracy, development, devolution, diversity and defence.

Addressing a news conference, PML (Q) president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and secretary-general Mushahid Hussain Sayed claimed that their party had chosen December 10 for launching the PML manifesto because it was the International Human Rights Day and it wanted to reaffirm its commitment to human rights as a major policy priority.

They said the party would never support the presidential form of government.

They said the PML (Q) government had done good work of devolving powers from provinces to the district and local levels but much needed to be done about transferring powers from the centre to the provinces. They claimed to have initiated the process for provincial autonomy

The manifesto proposes a task force for examining the causes of extremism and enunciates the party’s position on issues like Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Iran’s nuclear programme. The party “recognises the APHC (All Parties Hurriyet Conference) as a representative of the oppressed Kashmiri people and will continue to pursue a policy of peaceful resolution of the issues of Kashmir, Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq”.

“If the party comes to power again it will introduce a ‘cycle culture’ to bring down traffic congestion as well as the conveyance cost,” Mushahid Hussain said.

The PML (Q), he said, believed that political parties could find a more effective solution to the problem of terrorism by using means other than the military might.

The PML (Q) leaders, however, avoided giving direct answers to questions about the detention of nuclear scientist Dr A. Q. Khan, the sacking of and putting under house arrest over 60 judges of the superior judiciary and the suspension of human rights since November 3.

Chaudhry Shujaat simply said that Dr Khan was not under house arrest and Mr Hussain remarked: “Chaudhry Shujaat has been meeting him”.

The manifesto highlights the mottos of “Live and let live” and “Giving hope to the hopeless”.

Chaudhry Shujaat claimed that his party had opposed and would always oppose any attempt to undermine the ideology of the country.

The manifesto rules out “allowing any intrusion into country’s nuclear programme or providing access to any of its nuclear installations and scientists to outsiders”.

The manifesto calls for a constitutional amendment to allow representation of overseas Pakistanis in parliament.

It calls for the Foreign Office to be more ‘people-friendly’.

Some of the salient features of the manifesto are as follows:

-- To promote a democratic political culture within the party and within the country, end family cult from the party leadership, acknowledge the role of opposition in a democratic set-up, provide a healing touch to end the problems in Fata and develop a culture of conciliation and reject the ‘culture of revenge’.

-- To give top priority to education, including a mass literacy programme and modernisation of madressah education, introduce medical insurance, mass transit system, clean drinking water, food safety, neutral accountability bureau, village development initiative, a state-supported skills promotion trust and easily available small loans for people with skills.

-- To empower women, promote Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah as a role model, ensure participation of women in national development, provide opportunities to youths at home and abroad, give special facilities to senior citizens, ensure rights of the disabled by setting up a new ministry, protect prisoners’ rights and eliminate bonded labour, cater to the needs of orphans and children and promote arts and culture.

What happened to PML manifesto

By Ashraf Mumtaz

ALTHOUGH the Pakistan Muslim League government did a lot in various sectors during its five-year term, which was the longest enjoyed by any set-up during the past three decades, many of the important commitments made in the 2002 election manifesto remained unfulfilled. While the ‘achievements’ of the government received adequate coverage when they were made, the unfulfilled promises have not been pointed out so far.

The manifesto had been given by the party’s then president Mian Mohammad Azhar, who had to quit the office immediately after the polls as he was defeated on both the National Assembly seats from Lahore that he contested.

The five-year tenure (2002-2007) was shared by three prime ministers — Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Shaukat Aziz — but they could not pay much attention to the manifesto. It appears as if none of them got a chance to have a look at the promises made by their party and which they were under obligation to keep.

The manifesto’s first chapter was on ‘Political Reforms’ and its first item committed the party to improving the performance of the government by taking various measures. The first measure was that legislation by presidential ordinances shall be done away with as this militates against the letter and spirit of the parliamentary system.

A good idea, no doubt, but it could not be implemented.

According to Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Kamil Ali Agha, 48 laws were made by the bicameral legislature over the past five years while more than 80 presidential ordinances were issued during the period.

Both the figures are sufficient to explain the ‘performance’ of the parliament and that of the president. These figures also ‘expose’ the authority of the legislators who proudly say that they remained in office for a full five years.

In its new manifesto, the PML will say that the president should have no authority to issue an ordinance when the Senate is in session.

Another commitment was to set up a special TV channel to cover the proceedings of the parliament live.

No step was taken at all for the purpose on a number of occasions the electorate would have liked to watch the performance of their representatives live, but like many of their other desires, this one also remained unfulfilled.

Another commitment made by the PML was: “All major policy decisions of the government shall be made on the floor of the parliament/respective provincial assemblies”.

Needless to point out that President Musharraf has been taking all major decisions, and the ruling party has only been rubber-stamping them.

The role of parliament was not what it should have been. In fact, no major decision was taken by parliament.

The promulgation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance has also exposed the say of the ruling party leadership and the helplessness of the parliament.

Many ministers have admitted that some 80 per cent of the cabinet members were opposed to the NRO, but they could not do anything to stop it. The NRO was issued only because it was a commitment made by President Musharraf.

Interestingly, at a news conference Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said that the NRO was a political trick played by the government to outwit the PPP leadership.

The very same day the president’s spokesman said the presidency didn’t subscribe to what the two leaders had said.

Both Mr Aziz and Chaudhry Shujaat had to eat their words and let the dialogue process between the PPP leadership and the presidency go ahead.

That the overall performance of the PML-led government was not satisfactory also because its five-year term ended in the emergency rule, which divided the superior judiciary and imposed curbs on the media.

This also established the ‘ineffectiveness’ of the National Security Council set up by Gen Musharraf despite serious opposition from almost all parties. The NSC met quite a few times, but Leader of Opposition Maulana Fazlur Rehman, one of its members, always stayed away.

In the chapter for “Political Reforms” the party had also committed itself to enacting ‘conflict of interest legislation’ on business activities in cases where any interest pertaining to a member was involved.

No such law could be framed, and now the party’s new manifesto committee is inserting the clause in the new set of promises.

Once such legislation is enacted an industrialist will not qualify to become the minister for industries, a practising lawyer the minister for law and a banker the minister for finance.

The manifesto also committed the party to prescribing limits on the number of ministers and advisers that can be appointed at the centre and in provinces.

This provision was rubbished by the PML leadership. In fact, all records were broken as the prime minister and the chief ministers herded all their favourites in their cabinets. A ministry or a department run by one minister in the past was divided into several parts to accommodate as many people as possible.

In Punjab, for example, one minister in the past used to take care of food, agriculture and livestock. Now, four departments: agriculture, food, livestock and agriculture marketing have been created.

No legislation has been carried out at the federal or provincial levels to set a limit on the number of ministers.

The ‘Political Reforms’ chapter also committed the party to setting up an ethics committee for both the houses to monitor the conduct of legislators.

According to Minister of State Kamil Ali Agha, no such committee has been formed to date.

The PML manifesto dedicated a separate chapter to ‘Citizens’ Rights’.

It says: “Harassment of citizens by government agencies shall be considered an offence.”

Everybody knows that the commitment was not honoured. Secret agencies picked up an unspecified number of people from various places, citing no reasons.

The Supreme Court took up the cases of such people and a number of them were set free.

But the president did not tolerate the initiative taken by the Supreme Court. At a news conference he complained that the Supreme Court had exceeded its limits by taking up the cases of such ‘terrorists’. He alleged that the people freed by the court were involved in terrorist activities in various parts of the country.

The deposed judges’ argument that they set some people free because the government could not prove charges against them was ignored.

Yet another commitment made in the same chapter is: “The culture of police stations shall be changed to stop illegal harassment of citizens”.

Anyone coming in contact with police for any reason knows to what extent the government has been able to achieve this target.

Dawn 16/Nov/07

Soomro heads interim govt: Inamul Haq, Ishrat Hussain, Salman Taseer, Nisar Memon, Pir of Taunsa Sharif among ministers

By Amir Wasim

ISLAMABAD, Nov 15: Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro will take oath as the caretaker prime minister on Friday morning after dissolution of the National Assembly on completion of its five-year term, sources told Dawn.

The sources said Gen Musharraf disclosed his choice for the premiership at a farewell dinner he hosted at the presidency for the outgoing members of the National Assembly belonging to the ruling coalition.

The appointment of Mr Soomro as the caretaker prime minister, primarily meant to oversee the next general election, surprised political observers here as the government had all along been saying that a “non-political” and “non-partisan” person would be given the job to ensure free and transparent elections.

The appointment of a neutral personality was one of the major demands of the opposition parties. The leaders of all major opposition parties on Thursday said they had not been consulted by the government over the names for the caretaker set-up.

Mr Soomro is a confidant of Gen Musharraf and won the Senate election on a PML-Q ticket from Sindh.

The sources said Mr Soomro would not quit his Senate office after taking oath on Friday and would resume his duties as Senate chairman after the general election.

The sources said that besides Mr Soomro, a 17-member cabinet was also expected to be administered oath by President Pervez Musharraf at a ceremony to be held at the Presidency at 10.30am.

The caretaker cabinet contains a few people who had previously served in the cabinet of Gen Musharraf when he was the chief executive before the Oct 2002 election.

The sources said Inamul Haq, a former foreign secretary, would take oath as the caretaker foreign minister while former State Bank governor Dr Ishrat Hussain would be the finance minister.

A former defence secretary, Saleem Abbas Jilani, is likely to take oath as defence minister while ex-Wapda chairman Tariq Hameed would hold the water and power portfolio.

A surprise inclusion in the caretaker cabinet is that of Salman Taseer, a businessman and former PPP stalwart. He has been asked to take charge of the commerce ministry.

Senator Nisar Memon is tipped as the information minister and Afzal Haider, a former member of the Council of Islamic Ideology, is likely to be appointed law minister. Barrister Saif Muhammad, who came to the limelight during the hearing of the case against the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, would be his deputy.

Abbas Sarfaraz Khan, who had served as Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs in the previous Musharraf cabinet, is again being given the job. Similarly, another member of the previous Musharraf cabinet, S.K. Tressler, is expected to be a member of the caretaker set-up.

The sources said Ijaz Rahim, a former secretary in the Sindh government, Nisar Mohammad Khan, a veteran PML-Q leader from the NWFP, and Pir of Taunsa Sharif Khwaja Attaullah have also been included in the caretaker cabinet.

Raja Tridev Roy, who has served Pakistan as ambassador in a number of countries and already enjoys the status of a federal minister for life, is also likely to take oath as minister. Mr Roy is a fiction writer and leads the Buddhist community in the country.

Besides these, there are some unfamiliar names in the caretaker set-up, eg Hameeda Dharejo, Dr Abdullah and Dr Abdul Qadir.

Mr Soomro served as Sindh governor from May 25, 2000, to Dec 26, 2002, before contesting the Senate elections. He comes from a prominent political family of Sindh which has been active in public life since 1923.

His father, the late Ahmed Mian Soomro, was deputy speaker of the West Pakistan Assembly and a member of the Senate, helping establish the Senate committee system.

Born on Aug 19, 1950, Mr Soomro earned a B.Sc degree from Forman Christian College, Lahore. He obtained an M.Sc in physics from the Punjab University, followed by an M.Sc in operations management from the Northrop University, US.

An internationally-recognised banker, Mr Soomro has served in executive positions at home and abroad in such organizations as the Bank of America, Faysal Islamic Bank and the Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan.

DISSOLUTION ORDER: The ministry of parliamentary affairs on Thursday issued a notification regarding the dissolution of the National Assembly on the completion of its five-year term.It was the first National Assembly in the country’s 37-year parliamentary history to have completed its term.

Before the outgoing assembly, only the first National Assembly which came into existence after the 1970 elections, had completed four parliamentary years.

“In pursuance of Article 52 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, read with clause (1) of Article 2 of the Provisional Constitution Order No 1 of 2007 dated Nov 3, 2007, the National Assembly stands dissolved on the expiration of its term of five years on the 15th day of November, 2007,” the notification said.



Dawn 16/Nov/07

Chaudhry Shujaat forms Parliamentary Board

By Our Reporter

ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: President Pakistan Muslim League Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Wednesday formed the parliamentary board to decide about party tickets for the general elections.

Chaudhry Shujaat heads the board which includes Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Secretary General PML Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed,

Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvaiz Elahi, Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf, PML NWFP President Amir Muqam, President PML Women’s Wing Mrs Sumaira Malik, Sardar Farooq Ahmad Leghari, Hamid Nasir Chattha and Roshan Khurshid Bharucha.

Senator Mushahid Hussain will be secretary of the board.

The board will have the right to co-opt any person as member for consultation, a press release issued by the party said.




Dawn 15/Nov/07

Poll schedule soon after dissolution of assemblies: EC

By Our Reporter

ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: The Election Commission decided on Wednesday to issue the schedule for general elections soon after the dissolution of national and provincial assemblies.

The decision was taken at a meeting presided by over Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Mohammad Farooq. Justice Nasim Sikandar of the Lahore High Court, Justice Ahmed Khan Lashari of the Balochistan High Court and EC Secretary Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad attended the meeting.

The EC secretary said in a statement that the meeting had discussed the election schedule and the code of conduct.

“The notification regarding schedule for the conduct of general elections will be issued soon after the dissolution of National Assembly and the provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.”

The NWFP assembly has already been dissolved.

Mr Dilshad said the appointments of district returning officers, returning officers and assistant returning officers had been approved with the consent of the chief justices of the respective high courts. The appointment of returning officers for the seats reserved for women and non-Muslims has been approved.

He said the meeting decided to invite representatives of prominent political parties to attend a meeting at the Election Commission on Nov 19 to discuss and finalise the code of conduct.

Under Article 224 (1) of the Constitution, polls should be held within 60 days after the assembly dissolution.




Dawn 15/Nov/07

Deciding poll issues is EC’s job, says SC : Detailed judgment issued

By Nasir Iqbal

ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: The Supreme Court on Tuesday expanded upon its short order dismissing petitions challenging President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s eligibility for the presidential election and ruled that such disputes lay originally with the Election Commission and not the court.

On Sept 28, the Supreme Court through the short order had dismissed on technical grounds petitions against the holding of two offices by Gen Pervez Musharraf. In a majority (six-three) verdict, a bench headed by Justice Rana Bhagwandas had said that the petitions moved by Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan and some other people were not maintainable.

Authored by Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi, the detailed judgment held that questions raised in the petitions, notwithstanding public importance, did not relate to enforcement of any of fundamental rights guaranteed in Part II Chapter I of the Constitution (Article 8 to 28).

“Eligibility of a person to contest the election for the office of president in terms of Article 41(2) read with other provisions of the Constitution, does not relate to the enforcement of any of the fundamental rights of the petitioners or any other person. Therefore, the direct petition before this court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution is not maintainable.”

The judgment said questions relating to the application of Article 63 (disqualification) read with Article 62 (qualification) of the Constitution for determining eligibility of a candidate for the presidential election squarely fell within the jurisdiction and domain of the Election Commission, a constitutional forum of exclusive jurisdiction.

Besides, it said, parliament had enacted Act VII of 2004 (President to Hold Another Office 2004) which, having been found not in conflict with any provision of the Constitution, had been validated by the Supreme Court in the 2005 Pakistan Lawyers Forum case, and pending a review petition against the judgment in the above case, a separate petition on the same subject with a delay of more than two years might not be “entertainable”.

The petitioners had sought a declaration that while holding the office of Chief of Army Staff, Gen Musharraf was not eligible to contest the election under Article 63 (1) (d) (k) and (o) (disqualifications).

The counsel for the petitioners had failed to satisfy the court how the disqualification of Gen Musharraf, if any, had infringed fundamental rights of the petitioners or any other person guaranteed under the Constitution and how it was related to the enforcement of such rights under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, the judgment said.

It said the right to contest the election might be a constitutional right and regulated by the limitation imposed by statues, but laws relating to such rights or the right to vote might not as such fell within the purview of fundamental rights to bring the matter relating to such rights within the ambit of Article 184 (3) of the Constitution.

It said the right to file a petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution arose only in case of infringement of fundamental rights or a serious threat to infringe such rights, adding that mere apprehension of breach of fundamental rights was not enough to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of the apex court.

The court, the judgment said, was always reluctant to answer a hypothetical question even if such a question in its substantial context might be of public importance relating to enforcement of fundamental rights.

Similarly, the court might not grant relief in exercise of its original jurisdiction in a case filed with inordinate delay, notwithstanding the fact that the delay did not affect the jurisdiction of the court.

In the present case, it said, the matter to the extent of the presidential election was certainly of public importance but “we have not been able to digest that the questions raised therein really relates to the enforcement of the fundamental rights to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution”.



Dawn 14/Nov/07

No party contacted yet for caretaker set-up: opposition

By Ashraf Mumtaz

LAHORE, Nov 12: With the formation of an interim set-up only three days away, President Perrvez Musharraf has not yet contacted any major opposition party for appointing a caretaker prime minister.

Opposition parties have been calling for the formation of a government of “national consensus” to ensure transparent elections. The presidency had indicated a number of times that it would take major opposition parties into confidence over the matter.

The PPP’s secretary-general, Raja Pervez Ashraf, and MMA secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rehman told Dawn on Monday that the PPP and the MMA had not been contacted and this meant, according to the JUI-F leader, the general was planning to nominate his own man as the interim prime minister.

The PML-N will not entertain any contact by Gen Musharraf on any issue, a source told Dawn.

Maulana Fazl refused to convene a meeting of the All Parties Democratic Movement on Nov 18 on PML-N leadership’s request.

“Out of question,” the MMA secretary-general is reported to have said when he was told about Mr Sharif’s message.

The PPP’s secretary-general warned that free and fair polls would not be possible if Gen Musharraf appointed his favourite as interim prime minister without first consulting with the opposition parties. He said decision-makers would have to face “grave consequences” if they tried to hijack the polls.

Maulana Fazl said: “Perhaps he (President Musharraf) is trying to use his powers under the emergency rule.”

The president’s spokesman, Maj-Gen (retd) Rashid Qureshi, could not be reached despite repeated attempts.

The MMA secretary-general plans to convene a meeting of the MMA on Nov 15 to take a decision about elections.

He is also calling a separate meeting of the JUI-F in Islamabad on Nov 18 to review the situation.

It was learnt that PML-N Secretary-General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra called Maulana Fazl on Monday to request him, on behalf of Nawaz Sharif, to hold a meeting of the APDM on Nov 17 to take a collective decision.

The JUI-F sources said that a few days ago, Mr Sharif had personally called Maulana Fazl, requesting him to postpone the all-party conference called by the MMA until he received a reply to a letter he had written to PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto.

The PML-N leader had told the Maulana about his reservations about Ms Bhutto’s stance.

The Maulana, according to sources, said that if the PML-N had reservations about Ms Bhutto’s stance, the MMA also had its apprehensions about the APDM because of its conduct at the time of the dissolution of the NWFP Assembly and resignations from the National Assembly.

Dawn 13/Nov/07

Govt undecided over constitutional, extra-constitutional steps

By Ahmed Hassan

ISLAMABAD, Nov 2: An air of uncertainty and apprehension pervaded the federal capital on Friday as reports started filtering through that the government was contemplating taking “extraordinary steps” to wriggle out of an “extraordinary situation”.

But as the case on the president’s re-election dragged out in

the Supreme Court, Gen Pervez Musharraf and his aides were undecided on whether to adopt the constitutional path by imposing emergency rule under Article 232 of the ‘green book’ or resort to extra-constitutional measures like ‘emergency-plus’ — a euphemism for martial law.

Highly informed sources said the government had put off the imposition of emergency only after Washington and a number of other western capitals established contacts with President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday and Friday, advising him against taking any extra-constitutional step.

However, these sources hastened to add, the proposal was still on the table, and, depending on how the situation unfolds over the next few days, drastic steps could be taken to prevent the ‘derailment’ of the system.

The head of the United States Centcom, Admiral William J. Fallon, on Friday met almost every top civilian and military official who matters in Pakistan. He broached not only the security situation in the NWFP, but also sounded out his interlocutors on the “extraordinary measures” under discussion.

Coinciding with Admiral Fallon’s meetings were comments made by the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, during a visit to Turkey in which she urged President Musharraf to go ahead with the general election and conveyed Washington’s opposition to extra-constitutional means, according to Reuters news agency.

These back-channel diplomatic efforts notwithstanding, rumours about the imposition of emergency would not go away. A number of sources believed the emergency would entail suspension of fundamental rights and the curtailment of the judiciary’s powers.

Senior ministers like Sheikh Rashid Ahmed did admit that all options were under consideration, but kept on insisting that nothing was final as it was a part of the ongoing process to exhaust various options to end the uncertainty.

Although the ministers cited a number of factors that, according to them, demanded emergency rule, religious militancy and attacks on security forces among them, analysts thought the biggest cause at the heart of the “crisis management exercise” was judicial activism.

Sources said consultations on various options started last week after the president’s camp started backing its hunch that the Supreme Court would deliver an adverse verdict in Gen Musharraf’s eligibility case.

With the cut-off date of Nov 15 approaching — when the National Assembly would stand dissolved and Gen Musharraf’s current five-year term would end — senior officials in the president’s camp have become jittery.

According to the sources, the meetings in the ruling camp heard a gamut of options ranging from accepting the court verdict even — if it was against the president — to imposition of a constitutional emergency or declaring a “martial law-like emergency rule”. The latter, according to observers, would allow the government to clip the judiciary’s powers on matters of fundamental rights. However, a senior official denied that the imposition of martial law had been mooted at the meetings.

The media also came under scrutiny at these meetings, reliable sources said. Some participants called for measures against private television networks.

Reliable sources said President Musharraf had spent almost the entire Thursday night in consultations with the bigwigs of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League as well as his aides and intelligence chiefs. He reportedly asked the prime minister to take the coalition partners on board in the matter.

Shaukat Aziz had wide-ranging consultations on Friday with PML chief Shujaat Hussain, the National Assembly Speaker, the law minister and the Chief Whip.

Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid and an MQM team, led by Minister Shamim Siddiqui, also called on the premier separately. The first meeting discussed arrangements for the proposed National Assembly session to ratify a proclamation of emergency, the sources said. Ruling party circles have suggested Nov 5 as a probable date for summoning of the National Assembly. The government had asked the ruling party’s lawmakers to stay in the capital till further orders, according to sources. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said that the PML had started preparations for the general election, informing journalists that the party would set up a parliamentary board next week to award tickets for the elections.

A source claimed that Law Minister Zahid Hamid had taken members of the ruling group into confidence about the draft of the emergency proclamation order.

The Minister of State for Information, Senator Tariq Azeem, would not give anything away about the deliberations. “Rest assured neither emergency nor martial law is being imposed.”

The minister, who later participated in a talk show on a private television network, repeatedly said no “extraordinary step” was being contemplated. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, too, ruled out martial law, but did not rule out the imposition of emergency, saying that it was a “constitutional way to overcome the crisis”.

Talking to Dawn, he said “far-reaching decisions” were likely over the “next five days”. He parried a question about PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s sudden dash to Dubai or possibility of her return. A highly placed official told Dawn that the process of consultations was still going on and no final shape had been given to anything so far.

But no assurance has been enough to restrain the grapevine, particularly in the wake of a clear signal from the president’s camp that come what may, he was not going to relinquish power unceremoniously.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/03/top1.htm

Election Commission to post electoral rolls on internet

ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: The Election Commission will place the computerised electoral rolls 2007 on its website, according to Chief Election Commissioner Justice Qazi Muhammad Farooq.

According to the Election Commission, it is also preparing CDs/DVDs of the province-wise electoral rolls for political parties and contesting candidates concerned.

In accordance with the Supreme Court directives, the leftover voters have been included in the new electoral rolls, enabling them to cast their votes in the elections.

In all, 80.489 million voters have been placed on the computerised electoral rolls.

The number of male voters is more than 45 million while women voters are over 35 million.

According to the latest electoral rolls, the number of voters in Islamabad is 481,380, of them 260,882 males and 220,498 female voters.

The number of voters in Punjab is 44.37 million with more than 24.4 million males and over 19.9 million females.

The number of voters in Sindh is about 19.3 million, including 10.8 million male and 8.5 million female voters.

In Balochistan, there are 4.36 million voters with 2.35 million males and slightly more than two million females. The number of voters in NWFP is 10.5 million, including more than 6.2 million males and 4.2 million female voters.

In Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the total number of registered voters is over 1.2 million with male voters outnumbering female voters by almost four times.

The CEC has asked everyone having attained the age of 18 to get themselves registered as voter till the announcement of the election schedule.

Various political parties and civil society organisations had been urging the Election Commission to put the electoral rolls on its web-site to ensure transparency.

The Election Commission has now invited expressions of interest from parties to put the rolls on the web.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/31/top13.htm

Jamaat to review strategy: Baloch

ISLAMABAD, Oct 27: The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) will propose drastic changes in its party’s strategy to meet the challenges before the religious parties of the country, Muslim nations and Islamist organisations the world over, Naib Amir Liaqat Baloch says.

The changes would be discussed at a three-day congregation of the party scheduled in Lahore for Nov 3-5.

Insiders claim that the congregation is being held on the demand of party workers who want to vent their complaints and offer suggestions for reforms.

The party’s tough criteria for membership might come under discussion, sources said.

Talking to Dawn on Saturday, Mr Baloch said the need for the congregation was felt in view of the disturbing political situation in the country where forces of the so called enlightenment moderation were challenging the basic Islamic values and culture, and religious elements were being isolated at the behest of western propaganda.

Apart from the like-minded workers and voters, the party membership had increased to 25,000 members all over the country and Azad Kashmir in the last ten years, which was an increase of only about 6,000 while some 2,000 memberships were lost due to deaths and other reasons.

The congregation would set new working parameters, review relations with other religious parties and discuss issues relating to the western propaganda against Islam.

It would review the party’s strategy for the upcoming general elections.

The congregation was being held after a gap of 33 years and might also address issues such as lack of the party’s ability to absorb like-minded people as members.

According to the Jamaat’s constitution, the members are the top decision-making body which assign the job to the party’s central and provincial consultative committees (shuras), Mr Baloch said.

The congregation would include ‘training’ session, sermons by the top leadership and Q&A sessions.

PML will counter PPP agenda: Pervaiz

LAHORE, Oct 27: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi said on Saturday the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and its allies would counter what he called ‘the anti-Pakistan agenda floated by Benazir Bhutto’, but, at the same time, said she would be given full security upon her arrival in Punjab.

“Seeking security is everyone’s right. We will provide her foolproof security upon her arrival in the province,” he said while speaking at a news conference where he announced the inclusion of a PPP ticket-holder, Mehr Dastgir Lak, and his supporters, including nazims, in the ruling PML.

When confronted with reports suggesting his desire to become the next prime minister, he said a decision to this effect would be taken at the joint forum of the PML and its allied parties.

Nevertheless, he said, desire to field him as a candidate for the slot of prime minister was being expressed by different quarters. Such demands were also being preferred in the cabinet meetings, and the masses were raising related slogans in public rallies to agitate the same, he said.

The chief minister said the government was trying to take along those still clinging to the PML-N and all allied political parties to counter the PPP’s ‘anti-Pakistan policies and the agenda’, which Ms Bhutto had taken back home.

“We will fully oppose the PPP because this is necessary for the protection of the country,” he said.

He alleged that statements issued by Ms Bhutto were part of a well-considered agenda. Her statements about IAEA’s access to Dr AQ Khan and allowing foreign forces to carry out military operations in tribal areas were aimed at weakening the country’s sovereignty, he alleged.

The chief minister claimed that Ms Bhutto’s such policies had generated for her a strong aversion among the people besides inviting hostility from within her party rank and file.

The decision of Mr Lak and his companions to join the PML was a proof of the internal rift in the PPP, he claimed. He said Mr Lak had also returned the PPP ticket. Now, he would contest the next general elections from the PML’s platform, he said.

The chief minister said Ms Bhutto had twice attempted to file an FIR against him, but to no avail.

Her demand of involving foreign agencies to investigate the Karachi carnage was irresponsible. “Indeed, she has lost faith in Pakistani institutions because of her eight-year-stay abroad,” he said.

He asked as to why she had not involved foreign agencies to investigate the murder of her own brother, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, in 1996 when she was the country’s prime minister.

She had given nothing to the country and had been seeking pardon ‘which has been given to her’, he added.

Replying to a question on the recent statement issued by Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri about the return of Nawaz Sharif, he said he wondered as to why he (Mr Kasuri) said so whereas a few days ago President Pervez Musharraf had made it clear that Mr Sharif could not return.

He said Mr Sharif would not be able to return to Pakistan for three years, and the Saudi government had now stopped him from meeting the visitors too. Statements regarding his return to Pakistan in near future had no ground, he said.