Gilani seeks support from opposition

Gilani meets Shahbaz Sharif and calls on Chaudhry Shujaat in a frantic effort to make new allies. PHOTO: AFP

ISLAMABAD:?Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani met with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday in what analysts describe as a desperate bid to shore up support and make new allies following the MQM’s announcement of its defection to the opposition benches in the Senate and the National Assembly, which has stripped the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of its already slender majority in the parliament.

Gilani telephoned Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain early Monday morning seeking his support following the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM’s) decision to sit on the opposition benches. Gilani is expected to meet the PML-Q leader later today.

The ruling PPP has 125 members in the National Assembly, 47 short of simple majority to keep the government in office. It has support from Awami National Party (ANP) with 13 lawmakers, five from the Pir Pagara-led Functional League and around 17 independent members. The PPP?needs at least 12 seats to survive and the prime minister is expected to talk about the possible alliance between PPP and?PML-Q in today’s meeting.

Gilani faces an imminent no-confidence motion in the National Assembly, forcing the PPP to look for new allies. According to an earlier report in The Express Tribune, the PML-Q, which is the second largest opposition group with 51 seats in the National Assembly, said it will not move the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Gilani.

Express 24/7 reported that Shujaat said they will?listen to Gilani?and then consult other party leaders before reaching a conclusion.

PML-Q, JUI-F hold meeting in Lahore

Meanwhile, PML-Q and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) held a meeting in Lahore to discuss their future course of action. Addressing a press conference after the meeting with Chaudhry Shujaat, JUI-F leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Gilani saying that it was better for him to resign with all his cabinet.

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MQM take up Mirza's statements with Gilani

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani talking to Dr Farooq Sattar at the Parliament House on September 9, 2010. PHOTO: SANA/FILE

ISLAMABAD:?A Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) delegation met with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to take up the issue of controversial statements made by Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza against the party.

Mirza has stood by his earlier statement on target killer suspects belonging to the largest political party of the city. “I don’t sit and have dance parties with terrorists,” he said. I send them to court.”

The decision of the MQM with regard to the statement will also be discussed during the meeting.

The delegation, which was led by Dr Farooq Sattar, also discussed the reformed general sales tax (RGST).

Express 24/7 correspondent, Suhail Chaudhry reported that the prime minister will seek the MQM’s support on the tax.

For more on this issue follow: rgst

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WikiLeaks: Gilani open to drone strikes on 'right people'

Documents reveal that Gilani said the government would protest the attacks in National Assembly, then ignore them. PHOTO: EPA

More cables released by WikiLeaks reveal that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani allowed drone strikes in the tribal areas of Pakistan, saying they would protest the attacks in the National Assembly and then ignore them.

When Interior Minister Rehman Malik advised the US to hold off “alleged Predator attacks until after the Bajaur operation”, Gilani brushed off the remarks saying:

“I don’t care if they do it as long as they get the right people. We’ll protest in the National Assembly and then ignore it.”

The statements were reportedly made during meetings with unnamed US officials in August 2008. The cables also show bureaucrats supporting drones viewing them as a viable solution to loosening Taliban’s grip over the Tribal belt.

US forces inside Pakistan

In another shocking revelation, embassy cables reported that small teams of US special forces have been secretly embedded with Pakistani military forces in the tribal belt helping to coordinate drone attacks and to hunt down Taliban and al Qaeda fighters.

One memo quoted by the Times said that 12 US Special Operations soldiers had deployed with Pakistani troops near the Afghan border.

A report in the Guardian quoted the job of the special forces to be “to provide ‘intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance’ support – ISR in military jargon – ‘general operational advice’ and to help set up a live satellite feed from American drones flying overhead, presumably CIA-operated Predator and Reaper aircraft. The memo said that the forces had been deployed since 2008 but were limited to a training role. It said that the permission for the active combat deployment “almost certainly” came with the personal consent of the army chief General Ashfaq Kayani.

US presence in the country has been a sensitive issue in Pakistan. Earlier, reports of US military presence in areas around Quetta had drawn?condemnations from opposition parties and the public. The Pakistani government and the United States embassy however had denied reports about the presence of US forces in Quetta.

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Gilani, says the party should accept the errors of the past

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani speaks with journalists to a press conference Multan, Pakistan, 29 August PHOTO: FILE/EPA

Prime Minister Youssef Raza Gillani said Saturday that one should admit courageously if political party is erroneous.

While speaking at a ceremony at Zimindar College in Gujarat, he said that it was wrong for the Government to nationalize the College, adding that the central Government will fully support the reforms suggested by the Government of the Punjab.

GILLANI has also announced that granting Rs50 million for College which he had earlier announced will be accelerated.

The Prime Minister said that the country is currently overwhelmed by several problems including inflation, poverty, terrorism and devastation of the imposed flooding.

He said that the homes and livelihoods will be provided to the 20 million people displaced by the floods.

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