No sign of relief for Pakistani government
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Pakistani government is now inching towards a deep crisis as another opposition party Wednesday refused to support Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, whose ruling coalition has lost parliamentary majority after a key partner joined the opposition.
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Supporters grieve during funeral prayers for Punjab Governor Salman Taseer at the Governor's House in Lahore January 5, 2011. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
The crisis started as the Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) or United National Movement Sunday decided to part ways with the government of Prime Minister Gilani, reducing his majority to minority in the parliament.
In order to save his government from being collapsed, Gilani urgently met leaders of the two opposition parties to seek their support for his fragile coalition.
The Pakistani government was given a serious blow by the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday when he put a set of harsh conditions for support. Sharif's Muslim League-N party has 91 members in the 342-seat National Assembly or lower house of the parliament, the only forum to elect Prime Minister.
Sharif had only given three days to Gilani to say "yes or no" in clear term to implement his conditions. However, Sharif extended his deadline for three more days after the Tuesday's tragic assassination of the governor of Punjab province, Salam Taseer. The slain governor was the senior leader of the ruling Peoples Party, whose murder has diverted attention of the government from Sharif's demands.
Taseer is the second senior leader of the Peoples Party of President Asif Ali Zardari to be killed in three years. The party chairperson Benazir Bhutto was killed in Dec. 2007 in the garrison city of Rawalpindi and the government of Pakistan Peoples Party has not yet succeeded to investigate as to who were behind the murder of Benazir Bhutto.
There has been no response so far from the government to Nawaz Sharif's deadline, which seems to be tough and difficult for the Prime Minister and his minority government to meet within the short deadline when it is facing trouble due to the murder of the governor of Punjab province.
On Wednesday another opposition group Muslim League-Quaid said it will not support the government if it faces a collapse. The announcement came from Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the PML-Q leader, whose party has nearly 50 members in the National Assembly.
PM Gilani had met leaders of the PML-N and PML-Q with the hope that they would support him after the key coalition partner ended support to him. The Gilani government is now nine votes short from the required 172 members support in the National Assembly.
Constitutional experts argue that the Prime Minister has lost majority and he must seek fresh vote of confidence. But Gilani insisted that he will not go for fresh confidence vote unless the President asked him for it.
Policy statements from two main opposition leaders have pushed the Prime Minister Gilani government to a deepen crisis, which has been further complicated by the assassination of Governor Punjab.
The government is now facing two major challenges -- how to keep majority in the parliament and to hold inquiry into the murder of the Governor Punjab, who was also a top leader of the Peoples Party.
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