‘Musharraf engineered defeat of 10 PML-Q leaders in 2008 polls’

Lahore, May 12 (ANI): Former Pakistan President General (r) Pervez Musharraf engineered the defeat of ten PML-Q ministers in the 2008 polls to show the world that elections were free and transparent, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has claimed.

The Daily Times quoted Hussain as saying that the defeat of 10 PML-Q ministers in the 2008 general elections was ‘pre-planned’, and Musharraf had prepared a list of 10 ministers who were to be defeated.

Claiming that his name was added to the list at the ‘very last minute’, Hussain said he conveyed to Musharraf after the elections that his party’s defeat was engineered.

However, former foreign minister Khursheed Kasuri said the list Shujaat had referred to was prepared by PML-Q leader Pervaiz Elahi, instead of Musharraf.

He said list making was part of Elahi’s plan to become prime minister.

Hussain said that what happened in the past must be forgotten, and all political parties must unite to move forward, as the country was passing through a very difficult time.

On the question of influencing Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer’s decision to transfer posted officials during governor’s rule in Punjab, Hussain rejected that the decision was “in line with my emand”. (ANI)

Jeffrey Archer finds ‘Paths of Glory’ on bestseller list

New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) Aatish Taseer makes his mark on the bestseller list as his ‘Stranger to History’ tops the charts in the non-fiction category this week, while the king of racy fiction Jeffrey Archer tops the fiction category with his new ‘Paths of Glory’.

The top 10 in each group are:

Non-fiction

1. ‘Stranger to History’

Author: Aatish Taseer

Publisher: Picador India

Price: Rs.495.00

2. ‘Curfewed Night’

Author: Basharat Peer

Publisher: Random House

Price: Rs.395.00

3 ‘Descent Into Chaos’

Author: Ahmed Rashid

Publisher: Allen Lane

Price: Rs.495.00

4. ‘Delhi: Adventures in A Megacity’

Author: Sam Miller

Publisher: Penguin Viking

Price: Rs.499.00

5. ‘Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century’

Author: Nandan Nilekani

Publisher: Penguin Allen Lane

Price: Rs.699.00

6. ‘The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and The Challenges to American…’

Author: David E. Sanger

Publisher: Bantam Press

Price: pound6.25 (Rs.460.00)

7. ‘A Time of Transition: Rajiv Gandhi to The 21st Century’

Author: Mani Shankar Aiyar

Publisher: Penguin Viking

Price: Rs.599.00

8. ‘My China Diary 1956-88′

Author: K. Natwar Singh

Publisher: Rupa

Price: Rs.395.00

9. ‘Madhavrao Scindia: A Life’

Author: Vir Sanghvi and Namita Bhandare

Publisher: Penguin Viking

Price: Rs.550.00

10. ‘A Place Within Rediscovering India’

Author: M.G. Vassanji

Publisher: Penguin Viking

Price: Rs.599.00

Fiction

1. ‘Paths of Glory’

Author: Jeffrey Archer

Publisher: Macmillan

Price: pound2.99 (Rs.220)

2. ‘The Associate’

Author: John Grisham

Publisher: Arrow Books

Price: pound2.99 (Rs.220)

3. ‘In Other Rooms, Other Wonders’

Author: Daniyal Mueenuddin

Publisher: Random House

Price: Rs.395.00

4. ‘The Immortals’

Author: Amit Chaudhuri

Publisher: Picador India

Price: Rs.495.00

5. ‘Life is Perfect’

Author: Himani Dalmia

Publisher: Rupa

Price: Rs.195.00

6. ‘Salim Must Die’

Author: Mukul Deva

Publisher: Harper Collins

Price: Rs.225.00

7. ‘The White Tiger’

Author: Aravind Adiga

Publisher: Harper Collins

Price: Rs.395.00

8. ‘The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay’

Author: Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi

Publisher: Penguin Viking

Price: Rs.499.00

9. ‘The Story of My Assassins’

Author: Tarun J. Tejpal

Publisher: Harper Collins

Price: Rs.495.00

10. ‘Solo’

Author: Rana Dasgupta

Publisher: Harper Collins

Gilani to meet Sharif, takes charge of Punjab matters

Lahore, Mar. 21 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will meet the Pakistan Muslim League chief Nawaz Sharif on Sunday to discuss ways to resolve the current political crisis in the country’s Punjab province.

Gilani has taken all matters regarding reconciliation with the PML-N leadership in Punjab into his hands, asking the PPP team to immediately abort their ‘Get Punjab Plan’.

He summoned three Federal Ministers on Friday to get first hand report of numbers game in Punjab, The Nation reports.

Earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari had constituted a four-member ministerial committee headed by Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo to the pave way for a PPP Government in Punjab.

Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer and Adviser to PM on Interior Rehman Malik are struggling to complete the same mission.

“For all practical purposes, the Ministerial Committee ceases to exist after instructions from PM Gilani”, a top PPP source said.

According to one source, Gilani has been apprised about the latest situation, and is not satisfied with the outcome.

Meanwhile, Gilani telephoned PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, and reportedly assured him that PPP would allow majority party to form Government in Punjab, besides lifting of Governor’s Rule in the near future.

He also invited Nawaz Sharif to re-join the Federal Government.

Sharif thanked Gilani for reinstating the deposed judges through an executive order and invited him to lunch at his Raiwind estate on Sunday. (ANI

US, UK and Saudi Arabia move to sort out Pakistan’s political crisis

Islamabad, Mar 13 (ANI): In a bid to broker a truce between the PPP-led Government and the PML-N and end the ongoing political turmoil that has alarmed the international community, US and British diplomats have spoken to top Pakistani leaders.

US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke made separate telephone calls to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, President Asif Zardari and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, while US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson met Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer separately.

She also met PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday; the Daily Times quoted sources, as saying.

They said Zardari, Holbrooke and Patterson held a teleconference that lasted for about 30 minutes.

“We want to see the situation dealt with in accordance with the rule of law in Pakistan and that violence be avoided and that any impediments to peaceful and democratic activities not be put in place,” the State Department said in a statement on Thursday.
ritish Foreign Secretary David Miliband also telephoned Zardari. Sources said that Miliband asked the President to take immediate steps to avert a political and security chaos.

UK High Commissioner Robert Brinkley has had a number of meetings with PML-N and PPP leaders in recent days to persuade them for reconciliation.

Brinkley had met Gilani on Wednesday and urged him to play an active role to broker a patch up.

Saudi Ambassador Ali Awadh Asseri is also in contact with PML-N and PPP leaders.

Australian High Commissioner Zorica McCarthy is also active to defuse growing political tensions, sources said. She had met Nawaz Sharif at his Raiwind estate on Wednesday. (ANI)

PPP, PML-Q join hands to form government in Punjab

Lahore, Mar.9 (ANI): The Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) have joined hands to form the government in Punjab province, and declare ‘war’ against the PML-N.

ccording to sources, PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has agreed to form a coalition with the PPP in the province, and has subsequently told Governor, Salmaan Taseer about this decision.

The Dawn quoted a PML-Q leader as saying that his party has reached an understanding with the PPP regarding sharing of power in Punjab.

“The PML-Q had been taken into confidence about the imposition of the Governor’s Rule and both the future coalition-partners are moving ahead according to a written script,” he added.

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, president of PML-Q Punjab, said that his party would side with the PPP, if the PML-N-PPP feud did not subside by March 11.

According to sources, PPP was forced to announce this partnership to give a message to the PML-N that they were serious about installing a government in the province. (ANI)

Shifting of officials not related to Lahore attacks: Punjab Governor

Lahore, Mar.6 (ANI): Dispelling the notion that the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team took place due improper security arrangements, Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer said that the transfer of top officials had nothing to do with the terror attack.

Taseer said that the security cover provided to the visiting Lankan team was similar to what was adopted by the Shahbaz Sharif regime.

Talking to media persons here, Taseer charged the Shahbaz Sharif administration of using the January 22 CID letter which had inputs about a possible attack on the visitors, as a tool to gain political mileage.

“The letter of the CID, written on January 22, forewarning the administration that the Lankan team could be targeted by the RAW, was six weeks’ old and the Shahbaz administration was using it as a political tool now, while shifting the responsibility of the March 3 incident to the present government,” The News quoted Taseer, as saying.

“The PML-N leaders were using all tactics to defame Pakistan,” he added.

When enquired about latest development in the Lahore attack investigation, Taseer said the authorities have arrested some persons in connection with the attack, but refused to divulge details about the probe.

“I am going to give you details in the next few days,” he said. (ANI)

Politics takes new turn as PPP-PML-N gap widens in Punjab

Lahore, Jan.3 (ANI): The political game in Pakistan’s Punjab Province is taking a new turn, with neither the PPP nor the PML-N willing to compromise or budge on their respective stances.

The Nation quotes political observers as saying that the distance between PPP Governor Salman Taseer and PML-N Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is widening with the passage of time and warns that a direct confrontation between them may create a new problem, especially for the province and for the country in general.

The PPP and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) romance seems to be over in Punjab, as Governor Taseer has received a go-ahead from PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to work for an alliance between the PPP and the PML-Q.

According to sources, President Asif Ali Zardari still wants to take the provincial leadership (of Punjab) on board before authorising Taseer to strike a deal with PML-Q.

Prior to the first death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto, the PPP leadership in Punjab had stepped up pressure on the Sharifs to give them their ‘due share’ in the government, but the situation changed after a reported meeting of Nawaz Sharif with Pervaiz Elahi in Dubai which was denied by both the parties after reaching Lahore later on.

The sources claimed that heated exchanges between Sharif and Zardari contributed to the worsening of relations between the coalition partners.

”It appears that both major parties have reached to the point of no return in normalisation of relationship. In Punjab, the PPP is no longer in a mood to tolerate the PML-N government,” sources said, adding that now it is time for the PPP to work in collaboration with the opposition and the forward bloc of the PML-Q.

The PML-Q is reportedly strongly placed and can claim the slot of chief minister in case its forward bloc comes back to its fold. (ANI)