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WEEKLY
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| Presidency still trying to push NRO through parliament |
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Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Munir says SC to review president’s immunity if cases revived
By Kamran Khan
KARACHI: Notwithstanding the past midnight announcement of a presidential retreat on the NRO, President Asif Ali Zardari still wants Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to redouble his efforts to win parliamentary support for its passage, according to several political and official sources with direct knowledge of deliberations at the Presidency late on Monday night.
“President Zardari only agreed to defer the decision to table the NRO in the National Assembly so that the PPP might get its act together with other coalition partners on this issue,” according to a participant of the meeting.
The prime minister and other coalition partners who met the president had desired that he should forget the NRO in the best interest of democracy, but their plea met a strong resistance from the president.
Other sources confirming this account said that during late night meeting on Monday President Zardari was visibly restless and extremely disturbed over rapid developments on Monday that saw the MQM publicly revolting against him on NRO issue; PML-F leader Pir Pagara firming up his opposition and a majority of Fata members making an unprecedented declaration of not subscribing to President Zardari on this contentious issue.
“President Zardari, in presence of other participants, told Prime Minister Gilani that he didn’t come to his expectations of managing the coalition partners for a speedy passage of the NRO through the National Assembly,” another participant said.
Unimpressed by the president’s views that efforts can still be made to galvanize support for NRO, Prime Minister Gilani stood his ground on NRO by declaring on the floor of the National Assembly, second time in 24 hours, on Tuesday that he was not interested in tabling the NRO in the National Assembly and desired across the board political harmony to meet serious challenges facing the country.
Disturbed with the premier’s inability to harness enough political support for the passage of the NRO, President Zardari is launching last-ditch efforts to convince political allies and members of the Parliament from Fata to vote for the NRO before the deadline for its approval from the Parliament expires on November 30.
In fresh moves Zardari will meet a key MQM leader on Wednesday, while his trusted aide and Interior Minister Rehman Malik will fly overseas this week for another attempt to push for an MQM retreat on the NRO.
Separately, Zardari has renewed contact, through an intermediary, with Pir Pagara and have requested Maulana Fazlur Rahman to approach Fata members who appeared to be on warpath with him.
Moves were afoot Tuesday to figure out how many PML-Q parliamentarians, earlier cultivated by Governor Punjab Salman Taseer would be prepared to vote for the NRO. A well placed official also disclosed that consultations were made to explore legal avenues to introduce content in the NRO through a new bill so that identification of NRO with former President Musharraf might be neutralized.
Presidency, informed sources said, is desperate for the NRO passage to avoid a scenario under which at least five corruption cases against President Zardari would stand revived once it failed to earn parliamentary approval before the end of this month.
“If these corruption cases are revived against the president, the Supreme Court would examine the validity of immunity available to the president under the constitution, “according to Munir A Malik, former president of the Supreme Court Bar association. “Most importantly this would invoke the articles of the constitution that deals with the qualification of the President of Pakistan, “ Munir Malik opined.
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‘Al-Qaeda, Taliban leaders not in Pakistan’
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Mulla Omar in Karachi, claims WT
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Eight militants die in US drone attack
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Tribal sources sai more |
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19 militants killed in SWA, Khyber, Bajaur clashes
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Tribal and officials sources said five militants were kille more |
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Pakistan has nothing to fear from India: Singh
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Qureshi wants result-oriented dialogue with India
MULTAN: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmud Qureshi said on Friday Pakistan wanted meaningful and result-oriented bilateral negotiations with India.
Addressing a press conference at the airport here, h more |
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Only 15 pc believe Pakistan is going right
By Gibran Peshimam
KARACHI: Pakistan’s youths are losing confidence in the future and a mere 15 per cent believe that the country is heading in the right direction, while 72 per cent feel economically worse off than a year ago. O more |
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Mustafa Jatoi passes away
ISLAMABAD: Former caretaker prime minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi breathed his last at the St Marry Hospital in London on Friday after a protracted illness. He was 78.
He leaves behind six sons and three d more |
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Slaughter of animals, NRO beneficiaries begins on Eid
By Muhammad Ahmad Noorani
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will soon announce its strategy to deal with the cases which are going to reopen on Nov 28, a NAB spokesman told The News on Friday.
“The NAB chairman more |
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WFP, Rescue 15 attacks’ mastermind arrested
By Shakeel Anjum
ISLAMABAD: The Capital Police on Friday arrested the mastermind behind the attacks on the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Rescue 15 offices in Islamabad.
The terrorist, identified as Jamshed Ahmad more |
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Mushahid asks Karzai not to allow use of Afghan land against Pakistan
By our correspondent
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“Pakistan wa more |
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No Indo-Pak FMs meeting: Nirupama
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US to tighten control of Afghan contracts: Gates
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“The reality is more |
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China has stake in Kashmir: Mirwaiz
News Desk
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Clinton favours Indo-Pak dialogue on Kashmir
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Competition Commission forces PIA to fly fair
By our correspondent
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Attack on policemen in Peshawar
By Javed Aziz Khan
PESHAWAR: The death toll in the bomb attack on police party in Yakatoot rose to three after a sub-inspector and another cop succumbed to injuries at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) on Friday as the city mourned more |
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‘Musharraf funnelling money to improve image’
ISLAMABAD: Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has reportedly funnelled a large amount of money to his former aides in the country in order to improve his image, as he is planning a return to the c more |
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Sen Lugar’s wife arrested, charged with drinking, hit-and-run
News Desk
WASHINGTON: The wife of Republican Senator Richard G Lugar was arrested in the suburb of McLean on Wednesday night after crashing into a parked car, and she was charged with drunk driving and hit-and-run, the F more |
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briefs...
Bombers kill 23 in Afghanistan
HERAT: Bomb attacks on Friday killed 23 people in Afghanistan, a deadly start to President Hamid Karzai’s second term that underscored spiralling insecurity nine years into more |
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ISSN 1563-9479 
