ID :
17639
Mon, 09/01/2008 - 09:36
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/17639
The shortlink copeid
Zardari's quest for Pak presidency gets fillip
Islamabad, Aug 31 (PTI) Pakistan People's Party (P.P.P.) chief Asif Ali Zardari's prospects for presidency brightened Sunday with leaders of two prominent parties backing his bid, even as he claimed the 'establishment' is with him in his quest to succeed Pervez Musharraf.
Jamiat Ulema-e Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said his party's 48 members in Parliament -- National Assembly and Senate -- and provincial assembles of North West Frontier Province (N.W.F.P.) and Balochistan would vote for Zardari in the September six presidential poll.
Rehman said he took the decision after the government met
the four demands of his party -- reopening of the 'Jamia
Fareedia' madrassa, handing over of the Lal Masjid to 'ulema'
or religious scholars, halting of the military operation in
Bajaur tribal agency and promise to free radical cleric
Maulana Abdul Aziz soon.
Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, a minister in the previous
cabinet and the President of his own faction of P.P.P.(S),
announced his party's support to Zardari, as did a lawmaker of
the pro-Musharraf P.M.L.-Q, Amir Muqam.
Zardari also sought to assert that the 'establishment' --
a euphemism for army in Pakistan -- has not opposed or
expressed reservations over his candidature.
"The establishment has its own sensitivities which we
keep in view while taking decisions," Zardari told 'The News'.
There will be a triangular contest among Zardari,
P.M.L.-N's Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui and P.M.L.-Q's Mushahid
Hussain Sayed in the presidential election that was
necessitated after Musharraf stepped down on August 18.
Former Premier Nawaz Sharif's P.M.L.-N pulled out of the
ruling coalition recently, accusing the PPP of reneging on
several agreements to restore all the judges sacked by
Musharraf during last year's emergency rule.
Sharif has rebuffed pleas by Zardari to withdraw the
P.M.L.-N presidential nominee.
The electoral college for the presidential poll comprises
the two houses of Parliament and four provincial assemblies,
which have 1,170 members in total. The Senate has 100 members,
the National Assembly 342, Punjab assembly 371, Sindh Assembly
168, N.W.F.P. assembly 124 and Balochistan assembly 65.
An official statement, meanwhile, said the N.W.F.P.
legislators have unanimously "expressed solidarity and
confidence in co-Chairman and presidential candidate of the
P.P.P. Asif Ali Zardari and said that he would be elected by a
thumping majority, because he is....the most suitable
candidate." PTI KIM
Jamiat Ulema-e Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said his party's 48 members in Parliament -- National Assembly and Senate -- and provincial assembles of North West Frontier Province (N.W.F.P.) and Balochistan would vote for Zardari in the September six presidential poll.
Rehman said he took the decision after the government met
the four demands of his party -- reopening of the 'Jamia
Fareedia' madrassa, handing over of the Lal Masjid to 'ulema'
or religious scholars, halting of the military operation in
Bajaur tribal agency and promise to free radical cleric
Maulana Abdul Aziz soon.
Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, a minister in the previous
cabinet and the President of his own faction of P.P.P.(S),
announced his party's support to Zardari, as did a lawmaker of
the pro-Musharraf P.M.L.-Q, Amir Muqam.
Zardari also sought to assert that the 'establishment' --
a euphemism for army in Pakistan -- has not opposed or
expressed reservations over his candidature.
"The establishment has its own sensitivities which we
keep in view while taking decisions," Zardari told 'The News'.
There will be a triangular contest among Zardari,
P.M.L.-N's Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui and P.M.L.-Q's Mushahid
Hussain Sayed in the presidential election that was
necessitated after Musharraf stepped down on August 18.
Former Premier Nawaz Sharif's P.M.L.-N pulled out of the
ruling coalition recently, accusing the PPP of reneging on
several agreements to restore all the judges sacked by
Musharraf during last year's emergency rule.
Sharif has rebuffed pleas by Zardari to withdraw the
P.M.L.-N presidential nominee.
The electoral college for the presidential poll comprises
the two houses of Parliament and four provincial assemblies,
which have 1,170 members in total. The Senate has 100 members,
the National Assembly 342, Punjab assembly 371, Sindh Assembly
168, N.W.F.P. assembly 124 and Balochistan assembly 65.
An official statement, meanwhile, said the N.W.F.P.
legislators have unanimously "expressed solidarity and
confidence in co-Chairman and presidential candidate of the
P.P.P. Asif Ali Zardari and said that he would be elected by a
thumping majority, because he is....the most suitable
candidate." PTI KIM
