President Pervez Musharraf has won a vote of confidence in both houses of Pakistan's parliament and four provincial assemblies, keeping him in power until late 2007.
| Unless somebody manages to kill him first, of course... |
"He has won the vote of confidence," said Information Minister Sheikh Rashid on Thursday, adding that about 60% of the lawmakers had supported Musharraf. It follows the approval this week of a series of constitutional amendments by both houses of parliament that gave him vast powers, including the authority to dismiss the elected government.
| Which is needed. Paks tend to elect governments that make the word "corruption" seem inadequate. With the MMA they've been exploring government by lunatic... |
Musharraf was supported in the vote by the military-backed coalition government of Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali. The constitutional amendments were also backed by the Islamic alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), to give Musharraf the two-thirds majority he needed. But the Islamist parties abstained in the confidence vote where Musharraf only needed a simple majority.
| That way they can say they didn't vote for him... |
Secular opposition parties, who accuse Musharraf of subverting democracy, boycotted the confidence vote. In the 342-member National Assembly, Musharraf secured 191 votes with no votes against. He won 56 votes in the 100-member Senate, with just one vote against. |