PPP, PML-Q decide to expand

coalition to provinces

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and President Asif Ali Zardari have agreed to expand the coalition government to other parts of the country, and under the agreement three PML-Q nominees would be adjusted in the Sindh cabinet soon. A source told Pakistan Today that Shehryar Mehr would be made a provincial minister while Halim Adil Shaikh and Aijaz Shah Shirazi would be made advisers in Sindh. The PML-Q would also be given two ministries in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and under the agreement, Mirza Hussain and Bashir Ahmed would be made ministers in the GB government. Ahmed is currently leader of the opposition in the GB Assembly.
Later, Shujaat called on Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and shared with him details of his meeting with President Zardari. Gilani said that the country needed political stability in order to ensure socio-economic development. He said that external challenges facing the country also required that political forces across party lines developed consensus and put up a united front against these challenges. The prime minister said that the government tried to present a balanced budget in tight economic conditions. He said that it would welcome suggestions from the opposition. The PML-Q chief assured Gilani that his party would contribute positively to the debate on budget and support the government in facing the challenges.

* Shujaat criticises govt for not anticipating internal displacement

* Asks govt to talk to Baloch leaders ‘in Dubai, Kabul or India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Secretary-General Mushahid Hussain asked President Asif Zardari in a press conference on Sunday to bring his offshore money into Pakistan to help the internally displaced persons (IDPs) instead of asking other countries for help. Accompanied by Khursheed Kasuri and Amir Muqam, Shujaat criticised the Pakistan People’s Party-led government on its failure to anticipate the displacement ahead of the military operation against the Taliban in Malakand division.

He said the participation of the public was essential to providing relief goods to the IDPs, and that his party would participate in the relief and rehabilitation efforts the way it did after the 2005 earthquake in Azad Kashmir and the NWFP. Shujaat said he had met the Imam of Kaaba in Saudi Arabia and that he had expressed his desire to visit Swat and meet the IDPs. Mushahid said law and order was worsening in Balochistan and that the problems in the province could only be resolved by following the recommendations of the parliamentary committee on Balochistan. The recommendations contained a ‘road map’ that included withdrawal of cases against Baloch leaders, he added. “Balochistan requires a healing touch,” he said, adding that the government should talk to the Baloch whether they are in Kabul, Dubai or India.

PML-Q NWFP President Amir Muqam criticised the PPP and the Awami National Party over the handing of the issue of the IDPs, and said the top leaders of both the parties were not in Pakistan when the full-scale military operation was launched. He said the government should have made arrangements for the IDPs before launching the operation, and asked it to move the displaced people in government-owned buildings instead of camps. In response to a question, Muqam said the government should fully implement the recommendations of the All-Parties Conference (APC) if it wants to make the event meaningful.

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