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India-Pakistan
Opposition parties to attend PAT’s steering committee meeting today
2018-01-08
[GEO.TV] Pakistain Awami Tehrik leader Khurram Nawaz Gandapur informed on Sunday that opposition parties have agreed to attend the steering committee meeting scheduled today.

In the steering committee meeting scheduled today by the PAT, the opposition parties will decide the future course of action to be taken after the refusal of Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Law Minister Rana Sanaullah to resign from their positions in light of the Model Town inquiry report as demanded by them.

Gandapur said that he contacted Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
leader Jahanghir Tareen, Pakistain Peoples Party representative Manzoor Watto, Pakistain Moslem League-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Sheikh Rasheed.

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India-Pakistan
Qadri refuses to meet Malik Riaz; persists with long march
2013-01-13
[Dawn] In a theatrical twist of events, Tehrik-e-Minhajul Koran (TMQ) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri on Saturday evening refused to meet the top leadership of PML-Q because controversial property tycoon Malik Riaz came along with them to woo him to cancel the Jan 14 long march.

Qadri later decided to hold the meeting with Chaudhry brothers when Riaz announced to leave the venue.

Malik Riaz along with Pakistain Mohammedan League-Quaid leaders, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, had arrived at Qadri's residence to try to convince him to delay or cancel the protest.

Speaking to media representatives later, Qadri said that there is an impression that Malik Riaz is used to 'purchase people' and said that, "no one in the world can buy even his shoe."

Qadri categorically refused to postpone his protest and said his long march could not be purchased. He reaffirmed his resolve three times that the march would be carried out at any cost, adding that Malik Riaz was not a stakeholder.

Commenting on terrorist threats for his long march, Qadri said that threat of any terror attack could be decreased by 75 per cent if only 'two individuals' were sent to prison. He refused to name the persons.

Speaking to news hounds, Elahi clarified that they had brought Malik Riaz with them as his 'speedy wisdom' had previously worked under this sort of circumstances.
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India-Pakistan
NATO supply reopened in best national interest: Raja
2012-07-06
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Thursday defended the decision to reopen the Ground Lines of Communications (GLOCs), which allowed NATO supplies through Pakistani territory, saying it was taken in the best national interest and in the light of the recommendations of parliament.
Besides, they need the cash...
The prime minister expressed these views while talking to Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, who called on him at the Prime Minister’s House. The PML-Q leaders had supported the government’s decision to reopen NATO supplies.

Raja said, “As the withdrawal of the NATO and ISAF forces gets underway, Pakistan wants to facilitate the process in the interest of regional peace and stability.” He said that peace and stability in Afghanistan was closely linked to peace and stability in Pakistan.

The prime minister said that Pakistan was a partner of the international community and playing its leading role against forces of terrorism as a frontline state.

He said that prolonged deadlock over the issue of NATO supplies could have hurt the country’s relations with the NATO countries, which included friendly countries as well as brotherly Muslim countries such as Turkey, Qatar and UAE.

Raja referred to passage of legislation from the European parliament, which would enhance market access for the Pakistani exports from 2014 onwards under the Generalised System of Preference (Plus), which, he said, would not have been possible without the active support of some of the EU countries who are part of NATO. He said that it was for the first time in the country’s history that a bipartisan parliamentary consensus had been evolved on the broad contours of foreign policy.

Raja said that Pakistan made it clear that its red-lines should be respected and added in the same context that the new terms of engagement as approved by parliament were visibly heeded to by the US and NATO countries.

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain supported the government’s decision to reopen NATO supplies, adding that no country could afford international diplomatic isolation.

He said that the presence of US, NATO, ISAF forces in Afghanistan represented about 50 countries of the world under the UN mandate, including brotherly Islamic countries such as Turkey. The PML-Q leader said that the diplomatic impasse over the issue could have created problems for Pakistan at the UN.
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India-Pakistan
Lal Masjid operation: SC moved for registering cases against 22 persons
2012-05-09
[Dawn] A former nazim
...small time big shot, the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council...
of Jamia Hafsa on Monday approached the Supreme Court seeking direction to the police to register cases against 22 persons, including former President Pervez Perv Musharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
and ex-Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for their alleged role in the killing of innocent people and desecration of the holy Koran during the Lal Masjid operation in the year 2007.

On May 4, separate complaints were lodged by 11 people against the 22 persons with the Aabpara police. The police registered the complaints in its daily diary and issued separate numbers to the complainants.

The police also sent the complaints to its prosecution department for legal opinion.

When contacted, Advocate Tarqi Asad, the counsel for petitioner Maulana Abdul Qayyum, the former nazim and teacher of the seminary, said a request was also made to the apex court to take up the matter on Tuesday (today) when another identical petition would be heard.

The petition named as respondents the secretary interior, inspector general of Islamabad police and the station house officer (SHO) of Aabpara. The court was requested to order the SHO to register criminal cases against those responsible for the deaths of the innocent persons and desecration of the holy Koran.

"Deaths caused during the operation were in violation of Articles 9, 10, 10-A and 14 of the constitution. Besides, desecration of the holy Koran is against the sentiments of Mohammedans and a violation of Article 20," the petition said.

It stated that as per finding of the apex court on October 2, 2007, 103 bodies had been recovered from the premises out of which only 16 could be identified. The remaining were handed over to their families, but 12 of them were not accepted due to lack of identification.

The petitioner added that as per statements of principal Majida Younus alias Umme Hassan and a former student of Jamia Hafsa, Ayesha, recorded in the same court order, about 1,300 orphan students were on the premises who remained untraceable. "The number of those killed was very high but only 103 deaths were admitted by the respondents."

The petitioner stated that in the court's order it was also admitted that 662 persons were tossed in the clink
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
and later released. "But the fact is that most of them were never released and they were either killed or are still in detention."

The claim can be verified from the statement of one of the legal heirs of the victims, Ghulam Mohammad that he had seen his son when he was tossed in the clink
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
but his whereabouts was never known afterwards.

The petitioner claimed that another man -- Muzammil Shah -- had informed the court during the last hearing that his son Mohammad Ali was alive till July 6, 2007, but after that nothing was known about him.

In view of the order, legal heirs of the victims had been filing applications with the police and civil authorities from time to time requesting them to register criminal cases against the responsible persons. However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
they were told that only the Ministry of Law and Justice could allow registration of such cases.

The petitioner pleaded that FIR be registered on charges of murder and desecration of the holy Koran against the former president and prime minister as well as Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, former federal and state ministers Mohammad Ali Durrani and Tariq Azeem, former religious affairs minister Ijazul Haq, former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, former foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri, former Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, former environment minister Faisal Saleh Hayat, director crisis management cell Javaid Iqbal Cheema, General (retired) Javed Majeed, then director general (operation) Rangers General Hussain Mehdi, former secretary interior Syed Kamal Shah, former IGP Islamabad Iftikhar Ahmad, former deputy commissioner Islamabad Chaudhry Mohammad Ali, former SSP Islamabad Capt (retired) Zafar Iqbal, former chief commissioner Islamabad Khalid Pervaiz, former DIG Islamabad Shahid Nadeem Baloch, former DG ISPR Waheed Arshad, former chairman CDA Kamran Lashari and those who participated in the operation.

Besides, the petitioner also prayed the court to set aside the December 27, 2011, agreement signed between Umme Hassan and the government under which the victims' families would not make any claim or get any case registered against anyone in future.
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India-Pakistan
'Pakistan caught in disasters due to rulers' wrongdoings'
2010-08-29
[Pak Daily Times] Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid Punjab President Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has said that Pakistan is caught amid unprecedented disasters because of the rulers' wrongdoings and the nation should pray to God for mercy in these testing times.
Or, maybe, Allah is displeased with dicks like Chaudhry...
He was talking to a delegation of the Dawat-e-Islami on Saturday. The PML-Q leader said that the recent floods had brought unprecedented miseries and hardships for over 20 million Pakistanis, who had lost everything, including their homes, cattle, valuables and loved ones.
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India-Pakistan
'Punjab govt responsible for lives lost at Data Darbar'
2010-07-05
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the former Punjab chief minister and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) central leader, on Saturday blamed the Punjab government for the security lapse that led to the loss of 42 lives in the Data Darbar attack. Talking to reporters after visiting the Mayo Hospital to inquire about the health of those injured in the suicide bombings, Elahi said the tragic event was a result of a security lapse. Launching a scathing attack at the Punjab government, he said God would punish the men who had failed to protect the lives of the devotees, just like the suicide bombers who had killed the innocent followers of Hazrat Ali Hajvery (RA) Data Gunj Bakhsh. He said that "the people are already cursing the senseless rulers, now the outcome of this tragic event will further fuel the fire, which will eventually result into the ouster of the government". Continuing his attack on the government, he said that instead of taking concrete steps to counter terrorism and save innocent lives, all the government had done was "transfer a few officials and reshuffling others here and there".
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India-Pakistan
'Punjab govt has no cash to pay salaries'
2010-06-05
[Dawn] The Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) issued on Thursday a whitepaper on, what it called "black deeds" of the Punjab government, claiming a "total administrative and financial collapse of the province".

Addressing a press conference, former chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, who returned recently from abroad, said the PML-N government had ruined the provincial finance and did not have money to pay salary to officials."On May 30, it had only Rs420 million in its account," the PML-Q leader claimed.

"It (Punjab) sought the federal government's help, which enabled it pay salaries by transferring money to its account on the last day of the month. That is how a surplus, in every sense of the word, province has been turned into a bankrupt federating unit all because of lack of vision, egotist policies and sheer incapability of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif."Of a total development outlay of Rs175 billion, only Rs74 billion had been spent in the year, the Chaudhry said.

In order to hide the `disastrously' bad performance of his government, he said, the Punjab finance minister was now saying that the development budget was in fact only Rs95 billion. "The Communications and Works Department has not submitted its annual report so far, and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has called it exceptionally low development spending year in the history of Punjab.

"The total default of the province stands at a staggering Rs80 billion. And still they call it good governance," he said sarcastically.

Flanked by Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Zaheeruddin and former Punjab law minister Raja Basharat, Mr Elahi said that Sharif Brothers were defaulter of over Rs4 billion to different banks.

He said the Punjab government was currently raiding people's residences to recover tax on luxury vehicles, and when notices were issued to Sharif Brothers for Wealth Tax, they went to court (seeking stay orders) to avoid payment.

"That is how both brothers are setting a personal example of good governance," he claimed.

In the last two years, the prices of eatables had skyrocketed -- making life miserable for every one in the province, he said. The flour prices went up by 100 per cent (from Rs16 per Kg to Rs32), sugar by 168 per cent (from Rs28 to Rs75 per Kg), chicken meat by 70 per cent (from Rs100 to Rs170 per Kg), milk by 100 per cent (from Rs25 to Rs50 per litter) and yogurt by 83 per cent (from Rs30 to Rs55 per Kg).

"It is a shameful performance by any standard. How one can dare call it good governance," he wondered.

"In the last two years, crimes have gone up by 48 per cent, which is a matter of official record. All kinds of heinous crimes are being committed with impunity and ruling MNAs and MPAs are involved in such crimes. Extra judicial killings have also gone up. The police budget is multiplying along with the crime rate," he claimed.

He said the Punjab government had turned out to be a government "for the task forces and by the task forces". According to him, there are four task forces on 'cattle lifting', three on sports and one has been created even in London for the Pakistani community.

Elahi said the advocate general cost Rs700,000 per month along with two vehicles and five-star hotel stay. The Lahore commissioner is drawing a Rs340,000 salary as project director of Ring Road, Chief Minister's Task Force Chairman (Farooq Naveed) draws a Rs280,000 monthly salary, the Liquidation Board chairman Rs400,000 and AD Analysis Khalid Sherdil Rs200,000. "All these appointments are personal, but cost the province," he claimed.

Calling the whitepaper the first phase of a series of such papers, the former chief minister said that the corruption of the Punjab government "would be taken up at every appropriate forum".

The PML-Q leader took the occasion to condemn attack on the Ahmadis, calling it a "worst day in the history of the province". As the Punjab government was forewarned, the attack should have been pre-empted, he said.

"The Punjab government is handicapped to stop such attacks as no capable officer is ready to work in the province," he said. The egotist and insulting policies of the chief minister had shooed everyone away. Mr Sharif was happy with his immature team and everyone in the province was paying the cost, he said.

He supported an even-handed "operation against terrorists wherever required".
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India-Pakistan
Nuggets from the Urdu press
2010-04-09
Zardari, Nawaz American agents

Great leader Imran Khan was reported by daily Waqt as saying that both Zardari and Nawaz Sharif were 'pakka' American agents. He said when he became prime minister he would bring a case at the UN against India's grabbing of Pakistan's waters.

Sheikh Rashid, apologise for Lal Masjid!

Columnist Tayyaba Zia Cheema wrote in Nawa-e-Waqt that Sheikh Rashid was nearly killed in Rawalpindi by terrorists because he had supported Musharraf's operation against Lal Masjid in 2007. She asked him to apologise sincerely for doing so. It was wrong to accuse PML-N because the attempt on his life was androoni sazish (internal plot).

Aafiya lied in court

Writing in Jang, Nazir Naji stated that Pakistan that was aroused about the trial of Aafiya Siddiqi was not in favour of speaking out for a girl in Lower Dir who was lashed in public by the Taliban. He stated that Aafiya had lied to the New York court when she said that she did not know how to fire a gun. The prosecutors brought proof that she had gone to a shooting club in the US and hired a gun and bought bullets and practised with an automatic weapon in the club range.

India and America did it!

Top columnist Haroon Rashid wrote in Jang that Sheikh Rashid was wrong in accusing the PML-N for trying to target-kill him in the run-up to the by-elections in Rawalpindi. It was quite clear that either India or the US had tried to kill him. He said it could be one of the terrorist groups too angry with him.

Army chief invites editor!

Chief editor Khushnood Ali Khan of Jinnah met army chief General Kayani at a dinner in honour of Palestinian leader Mehmud Abbas in Islamabad and was warmly greeted. The chief said to chief editor, 'I read your writings, but why don't you call on me?' The chief editor also wrote that Shehbaz Sharif's second meeting with the army chief was 'zabardast'.

Taliban will be no more!

Writing in Jang Haroon Rashid stated that once sitting next to Imran Khan in 1999 he heard a grand old man who had 8,000 pages of Ghazwa-e-Hind (Prophet's war on India) in his trunk say that the soon martial law would be imposed and that the Taliban would be no more. He said Hazrat Umar had taken the flag of Islam from their hands.

Joe Biden to Ch Pervaiz Elahi

Writing in Jang, Nazir Naji wrote that when Joe Biden was still chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee he visited Pakistan and asked Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi about the projected results of the 2008 elections. Ch Sahib said that that his party would win, on which Mr Biden shot back, 'In that case America will not accept the results of the elections'. Ch Sahib narrated the incident to the columnist.

Aslam Beg and PPP

Columnist Nazir Naji wrote in Jang that army chief General Aslam Beg had foretold the result of the elections in 1988 by saying that he did not want the PPP to come to power, so they put together what was called the IJI with all the parties opposed to it in order to prevent it from gaining majority votes.

With India, only jihad!

Jamaatud Dawa periodical Jarrar quoted Hafiz Said as saying that with India only jihad will work and there was a national consensus on jihad. Addressing a gathering of hundreds of thousands in Karachi, he said America was breaking up. He said Indian minister Chidambaram should talk to Jamaatud Dawa and not to Pakistan government.

Send the mullahs to America!

Columnist Nazir Naji wrote in Jang that the JUI clerics had collectively asked the government to send delegations (wufud) to the US asking Washington to let Dr Aafiya Siddiqi return to Pakistan without being punished for terrorism. Naji thought this was a signal that the clerics should be sent to America on government funds. Hafiz Husain Ahmad of JUI has been to America many times but no one knows where he goes and what he does.

Na'at and Punjab Assembly

Reported in Jinnah Punjab Assembly agreed to do away with the committee formed earlier to decide whether or not the content sung in a naat (praise of the Prophet PBUH) sung in addition to tilawat (recitation of the Quran) was proper. An MPA threatened to resign if naat was discontinued. The speaker decided to disband the committee.

Nawaz hunting pheasant?

Reported in daily Islam, Nawaz Sharif was invited by the Mahr clan of Sindh to come and hunt pheasant on their land at Khangarh along with a prince of the UAE. When asked if this was true, the PML-N sources explained that he had gone to Khangarh not to kill birds but to examine the canal irrigation system there.

Prophet PBUH and victory against India

Famous columnist Haroon Rashid wrote in Jang that once someone came to him thrice in the night and disclosed to him a dream in which the Prophet (PBUH) appeared next to Kahuta Laboratory where the largest number of Pakistani scientists lived. The dream was also that when the dreamer ran after the American gora men to catch them with stolen uranium he saw the Prophet (PBUH) standing near a stream together with Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Umar, his companions. The Prophet (PBUH) said that he would himself supervise the war against India in which the Muslims would be led by Khalid bin Walid.

Irfan Siddiqi on Justice Chaudhry

Famous columnist Irfan Siddiqi wrote in Jang Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was qaziul qazzaat of Pakistan with unlimited (bekraan) popular affection and unlimited confidence of the people at his back. He is the only judge in human history who has been survived the assaults of a savage despot (saffaak amir) three times. The robe of justice of Justice Chaudhry is crimson with the blood of martyrs for his cause and the biggest treasure for him to defend is the confidence (etemaad) of the common man in his leadership.

Pak girl students seduced by India

Periodical Jarrar of Jamaatud Dawa reported that an NGO pretending to take Pakistani students to India on study tours was actually taking Pakistani girls to India making them stay with Hindu families who arranged to rape them and thus make them vulnerable to blackmail. Among the girl students were girls from the best known private university of Lahore (name omitted by TFT). The paper said that ISI had arrested the NGO director who was actually working for RAW.

Which general will become chief?

Writing in Jang, Nusrat Mirza observed that army chief General Kayani was retiring in November 2010 but the government was desirous of giving an extension to General Mustafa Khan who is to retire in October 2010. The government wants to extend the service of General Kayani by two years parallel to the extension of service given to General Petraeus by the US. But General Mustafa Khan is junior way down from General Kayani by ten candidates. But if he retires in October he can't even become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. What is the government up to?
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India-Pakistan
Pakistan is not a terrorist state, says Elahi
2009-01-27
Pakistan is not a terrorist state and should not be portrayed as one, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said on Monday. Elahi said there was a need to portray a positive image of Pakistan internationally, one that strongly opposes extremism. He was talking to visiting US educationists, George Washington University Professor Dr Judith Findlay and American International School Board Member Richard Pinal at his residence. They appreciated the educational progress during Elahi's government. Elahi said the overall situation of the country was peaceful, barring the Pak-Afghan border situation. He added even the World Bank was surprised at the educational reforms during his stint as chief minister of Punjab. The visiting educationists also appreciated the student exchange programmes between the US and Pakistan during Elahi's tenure, saying that the programmes helped clear misunderstandings between students and societies of both the countries.
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India-Pakistan
I won't step down, says Musharraf
2008-08-15
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Friday rejected reports that he would step down before the launch of impeachment proceedings against him, saying he was prepared to face the motion in parliament in a "democratic spirit".
Sounds like the deal fell through. My guess would be that Nawaz screwed it bad enough to make his army buddies swing around behind him.
During a meeting with his allies in the opposition PML-Q, Musharraf made it clear that he would not quit as he had been constitutionally elected with a heavy mandate.
Last poll said 74 percent of GEO viewers wanted him to stay on. Most madrassah rats want him to leave.
He also said there was "no reason for him to step down".
He's ignoring what happened to the Bhuttos, father and daughter.
The statement came amid reports that Pakistan's ruling coalition is considering the possibility of giving the former military ruler "safe passage" if he resigns.
Zardari's probably in favor, figuring he can have Perv bumped off at liesure if he gets out of line. Nawaz isn't that bright, and he took being bounced in the first place personally, and then not being allowed back in the country at the same time and under the same conditions as Benazir even more personally.
PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and his cousin Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, leader of opposition in the National Assembly, met Musharraf in his camp office in Rawalpindi to discuss the prevailing political situation, particularly the move to impeach the President.
I'd suggest an unfortunate accident for Nawaz. Not only is he the sticking point in the negotiations -- and to a large extent the driver behind impeachment -- but he's nastier even than Mr. Ten Percent. Most of the time he's openly on the jihadis' side.
Hussain and Elahi were quoted by TV channels as saying that Musharraf had told them he would not resign.
"No way, man! I like it where I'm at!"
Musharraf also said that if an impeachment motion is moved against him in the parliament, he will face it in a "democratic spirit and in accordance with the constitution".
"Unless it looks like I'm actually gonna lose, in which case it's time for a state of emergency."
The beleaguered President also made it clear that he had no intention of using his powers to dissolve parliament.
"That's clumsy. Why dissolve all of parliament when a single heart attack or an unfortunate fire can turn the tables?"
The former military ruler also lashed out at ex-premier and PML-N chief Uncle Fester Nawaz Sharif, saying he was "bent on destabilising the system, democracy and the country" and also told Hussain and Elahi that Sharif's "intentions will fail".
Perv doesn't like Nawaz any more than Nawaz likes him.
Speaking in Lahore on Thursday, Sharif, who was deposed as premier by Musharraf in a bloodless military coup in 1999, had said the President should not be given a safe exit if he resigned.
"Aaaar! Stretch the bastid's neck! In the name of democracy, of course..."
The PML-Q leaders briefed Musharraf on the current situation and assured him of their party's full support in countering any impeachment motion in parliament.
And if you can't trust a Pak politician's promise, whose promise can you trust?
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India-Pakistan
Musharraf consults allies, legal aides over options
2008-08-07
President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday discussed with his political allies and legal aides his options to counter a possible move by the ruling coalition to oust him from office.

Sources privy to the developments told Daily Times that Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussian and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi called on the president and assured him of support in case he was impeached, the sources said. They said the president appeared confident and said he would defend himself. Musharraf urged the PML leaders to solicit support for him in parliament. The Chaudhrys assured the president that the coalition would fail to muster the required strength of legislators in the Senate and National Assembly for the impeachment. The sources said that they also advised the president to go on with his planned visit to China to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

Sources said the president also met Attorney General Malik Qayyum and Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad, and talked to PML-Q leader Hamid Nasir Chattha on the phone. Chattha and president had met on Tuesday.

The sources said Musharraf also met Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani, but the ISPR director general did not confirm the meeting. Asked if the meeting took place, he said: "not to my knowledge".
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India-Pakistan
Elahi: PM's speech pack of lame excuses
2008-07-21
ISLAMABAD - The opposition has termed Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani's speech to the nation as a "pack of lame excuses" and an attempt to cover up his government's failure on all fronts.
PML-Q leader and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi termed the prime minister's speech as an extension of budget speech "that contains only promises but no solutions to the problems being faced by the masses."
And who would know more about promises with no solutions than Pervaiz Elahi ...
"Though there were claims that the prime minister would announce remedies for the malaises of unemployment, price hike and extremism but in reality not a single promise was fulfilled in the speech," he added.
Nor will any be fulfilled in the future. This is Pakistan.
He said situation of law and order deteriorated during the first 100 days of the government. He further said that though the prime minister commended the opposition for giving him vote of confidence, yet he did not mention the political victimisation and registration of fake cases against the opposition leaders as well as workers. "The government cannot satisfy people by making allegations against the previous government as the day is not far when people will make them accountable," he added.

Secretary Information PML-Q Senator Tariq Azeem said the speech contained nothing but only a pack of lame excuses of failure of the government in first 100 days.
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