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Pakistan National Assembly to meet today

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s newly-elected National Assembly is set to meet on Monday for its first session amid fears over security, unrest within the Pakistan People’s Party over the prime ministership, and uncertainties caused by a possible showdown between Parliament and President Pervez Musharraf.

The 342 members of the House will take oath on Monday, but before that the parties who expect to form a coalition government are to hold a meeting at which the PPP is likely to inform its partners about its candidates for the Speaker and Deputy speaker, the election for which may be held over Tuesday and Wednesday.

The top leadership of the PPP, Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Awami National Party will attend the meeting, as well as Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the Jamat-e-Ulema Islami. The religious party, which was in coalition with the Jamat-e-Islami in the previous dispensation, has abandoned that alliance known as the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal to join hands with the new ruling parties.

In their historic Bhurban agreement, the PPP and the PML (N) agreed to support each others candidates for Speaker and Deputy Speaker in the National Assembly and Punjab Assembly respectively.

The PPP is also expected to announce this week its nominee for premiership, which has become cause for an internal rift within the party. Despite signs to the contrary, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, the deputy chairman of the party, insists he is in line for the Prime Ministership. Signals emanating from the PPP suggest that its leader Asif Ali Zardari may take the role despite his declared reluctance to do so. But as he did not contest the election and is not a member of the National Assembly, he may appoint a “stop-gap” Premier for three months, after which he could enter Parliament through a by-election.

The swearing-in of the Prime Minister is expected to happen only in the second session of the National Assembly. The House is to be prorogued after the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, and is to be summoned again to decide the Prime Minister, perhaps in the same week.

With the two parties deciding to restore the pre-November 3 judiciary through a resolution of Parliament within 30 days of government formation, analysts see a showdown looming between Parliament and General Musharraf.

General Musharraf and legal experts backing him are saying the sacked judges can be restored to their positions only by an amendment of the constitution requiring two-thirds support in Parliament, while the anti-Musharraf legal community believes that all it needs is an executive order.

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