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No question of indefinite postponement
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President hopes politicians will resolve all issues ‘among themselves’
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There is no legal hurdle to floor-crossing
Musharraf Says He’ll Do Anything For A Stable Govt
ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday postponed the inaugural session of the National Assembly for one week on the request of political leaders, to provide them enough time for consultations on the formation of government.
The president had earlier announced that the inaugural session of the National Assembly would be convened on November 8 (Friday).
The president took the decision while chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet on Wednesday, saying the government had noted the suggestions made by certain political leaders for the postponement of the first National Assembly session to facilitate the ongoing consultations and discussions among the political parties for the formation of an elected government and for some administrative reasons.
“The president postponed the National Assembly session for one week,” a cabinet source told Daily Times. An official statement quoted the president as saying that there was no question of an indefinite postponement of the inaugural session. However, the president did not fix any new date for the National Assembly session.
“I expect the politicians will resolve all issues among themselves,” the source quoted the president, who said the government was keen to give the country a stable democratic government. The president said he would give due consideration to every suggestion that helped achieve that objective.
Asked if the cabinet discussed the promulgation of any ordinance to relax the law on defection and floor-crossing by the members of political parties, the source said no such law was discussed.
No bar on defection: However, the source said the defection law was introduced in the Constitution through the 14th amendment and had been reinforced in the Legal Framework Order (LFO), 2002.
“The Constitution is in abeyance and the LFO has yet to be enforced. So for the time being, no law stops any member of a political party to join another. Legally and technically, the MNAs-elect are under no bar to defect from their respective parties,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the federal cabinet reviewed the devolution of power plan and expressed its satisfaction over the functioning of the district governments. The cabinet asked the provincial governments to ensure the implementation of the separation of the investigation from prosecution, as that was the basic requirement for streamlining the administration of justice.
The cabinet decided to defer restructuring of the federal and provincial services till the new government took over, as the decision would have far-reaching administrative and financial implications, which would directly affect the entire governance system.
The federal cabinet appreciated the efforts of the Cabinet Division and the army for timely and speedy relief measures for earthquake victims in Northern Areas.
The president directed the chief executive of the Northern Areas to ensure early rehabilitation of the victims on permanent basis.
Federal Minister for Information, Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Nisar A Memon briefed the cabinet on the relief measures and said Rs 10 million had already been allocated by the government for the relief and rehabilitation of the victims in the affected area.