The federal cabinet is meeting in Lahore for the first time and has an extensive agenda before it. Originally, the meeting was scheduled to be held on Wednesday, but has now been summoned to Lahore ahead of schedule.

Sources said the meeting is expected to endorse the decisions of the government to revisit engagement with Nato and International Security Assistance Force (Isaf). Security arrangements during the month of Muharram-al-Haram will also be discussed.

Sources said that the federal cabinet would also take a decision about the summoning of a parliament session to take up the Nato attack. In all probability the session will be called immediately after Ashura. The decision about Pakistan’s participation in the Bonn Conference will also be announced by the prime minister at the cabinet meeting.

Sources said the memogate scandal would also come under discussion in cabinet for the first time since the resignation of Husain Haqqani.

Though memogate has shaken the government politically, the issue has been ignored in cabinet meetings held since the scandal first surfaced.

Sources expect that the prime minister will take cabinet into confidence on the meeting of the ‘four bigwigs’ held at the Prime Minister House after which Husain Haqqani resigned and Sherry Rehman was appointed to replace him.

The government has most recently decided to probe the scandal through the Parliamentary Committee on National Security headed by Mian Raza Rabbani in which all parties have representation from both houses.

Federal Minister for Petroleum Dr Aasim Hussain will brief the cabinet on the energy crisis that has hit the country and provide details about the gas loadshedding plan, sources said.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Gilani has also asked relevant officials to formulate a task-oriented agenda for the cabinet since the country is entering election year in a few months time and the administration must concentrate on the end result of the programmes initiated by his government.

Gilani has asked ministries dealing with economic affairs to give final shape to projects directly linked with the well-being of the people so that efforts of the government made during the last four years can be presented to the people in solid form.