Ally quits, Gilani in trouble

Dec 22, 2010 |

IANS

Islamabad, Dec. 21: The cracks within the ruling coalition in Pakistan widened on Tuesday after a key ally made it clear that it had no intention of returning to the (coalition) fold.

The Prime Minister, Mr Yousaf Raza Gilani, last week sacked minister for science and technology, Mr Azam Swati, who was a cabinet member from Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). This enraged the JUI-F chief, Mr Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman. He not only decided to withdraw his party’s support to the government, but also submitted resignations of four other ministers of the party.

Although Mr Fazl-ur-Rehman has decided against resigning from the chairmanship of the Kashmir Committee and Council of Islamic Ideology, which is giving the central government hopes of his return, he has made it clear that he has no intention of returning to the (coalition) fold. The party has also sought from the speaker allotment of opposition benches for its MPs. “Speculations of our return to the coalition are not right. I am not a hyperactive person. However, this was a limit because our minister was sacked without any logical grounds and also without taking us into confidence,” he said.

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