Ally calls for Gilani ouster
Islamabad, Dec. 29: The Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr Yousaf Raza Gilani, may lose his job as an angry ally — the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazal) — has demanded his resignation terming him a “hurdle against democracy”.
“We can rejoin the government but not with Prime Minister Gilani at the helm. He must quit,” the JUI-F chief, Mr Maulana Fazlur Rehman, said after a meeting with the interior minister, Mr Rehman Malik — the special envoy of the President, Mr Asif Ali Zardari, to win back the fuming allies.
Mr Malik did the trick with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) late on Tuesday night but not before the government accepted all the demands of the threatening partner.
The MQM had quit the federal Cabinet last day and showed intentions of leaving the coalition altogether if their demands were not met.
If MQM had withdrawn their support, the PPP led government would have lost its majority in the National Assembly.
The JUI-F chief, Mr Fazlur Rehman’s demand for change at the Prime Minister’s office has sent everything in a tizzy.
Mr Rehman Malik and a delegation of parliamentarians from the tribal areas visited Mr Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s residence on Wednesday morning before his departure for Saudi Arabia.
Mr Rehman Malik asked Mr Maulana Rehman to discuss problems with the government instead of criticising the Prime Minister, sources said.
Mr Maulana Rehman said that the Prime Minister had relieved JUI-F’s Mr Azam Swati from the Cabinet without informing him.
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