It’s good to see such close relations being formed between the Presidency and the government.
Rehman Malik’s dinner menu
Thursday, April 24, 2008
By Dilshad Azeem
Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik had an exclusive session with President Pervez Musharraf and discussed with him, among other things, the burning issue of the reinstatement of the deposed judges, The News has learnt. “Rehman Malik met Musharraf alone at the dinner the president had hosted in honour of the formation commanders at the Aiwan-e-Sadr,” sources privy to the development revealed here on Wednesday. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and some members of the federal cabinet belonging to the PPP also attended the dinner. The ministers belonging to the PML-N were conspicuous by their absence. Information Minister Sherry Rehman, Law Minister Farooq Naek and Syed Naveed Qamar were among the ministers who attended the dinner and also enjoyed a musical evening.
The PM adviser is said to have briefed Musharraf about the judges’ restoration as well as the proposed constitutional amendments. “Yes, I attended the dinner and sat along with other personalities at the dining table with the president, but there was no meeting with him in which we could have discussed the issues,” said Rehman Malik when this correspondent sought his reaction. He said he did attend the dinner along with his spouse but left the Aiwan-e-Sadr early. “No, not at all,” was his response when further pressed about his meeting with Musharraf. “We had a social kind of discussion with the president. Actually, I left the presidency in a hurry as I had some other engagements also.”
However, the sources confirmed that Malik and almost all the ministers remained inside the presidency for at least two and a half hours. “We do not feel the need to discuss these issues with the president as our leadership is working out the modalities for implementing the Murree Declaration,” said Rehman Malik. According to sources, Malik, who played a key role in striking a deal between PPP’s slain chairperson Benazir Bhutto and Pervez Musharraf, is still handling things that come under the purview of the agreed points of the understanding. Rehman Malik, who enjoys “excellent relations” with the president, briefed Musharraf about the political compulsions behind the government’s plan to reinstate the deposed judges.
Re: PPP ministers Musical Dinner Date with President Musharraf
Reza bhai, itni zabardast khabar aap ne di, mai to saari zindagi ke liye aap ka maqrooz ho gaya, ab to dunya bhar mai inqilaab aa jaye ga, saaray bhookay pait bhar ke soyen gai, ghareebon ko sar pe chhat mil jaye gi :k:
President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, Federal Information Minister Sherry Rehman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Tariq Majeed and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani at the dinner ceremony.
Re: PPP ministers Musical Dinner Date with President Musharraf
Sherry Rahman brings a swath of fresh air and color to otherwise totally drab pictures. Good thing, she is all over the place. Plus she actually has quite a lot of style. :k:
Re: PPP ministers Musical Dinner Date with President Musharraf
Gillani says no problem with President
Umar Aziz Khan and Afzal Bajwa
*“He has been President for eight years. He has willingly doffed his uniform. And he has recently conducted an election; one that has brought pro-democracy forces into power. I don’t think we will have any problem from him,” said Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, in an exclusive panel interview carried out by the Nawa-i-Waqt Group. This particular response was to a question regarding the possibility of the President Musharraf’s use of the infamous Article 58-2b to dissolve the parliament in case the deposed judges are restored.
*
*The conciliatory attitude towards the President did not stop there. One has to look at the context and history of the Article, said the Prime Minister. It is based on intentions: when it is not to be used, it won’t be used. Even when it is, it doesn’t stop there. He pointed out the example of the Nawaz Sharif government. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of Nawaz Sharif when his government was dissolved by the then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan. “We don’t believe the President has any intention of using the clause.” “The people gave us our mandate for the restoration of the Constitution. We will have to respect that. And so does the President.”
* In another question relating to the President, the Prime Minister was asked about the government’s apex legal officer, the Attorney General of Pakistan Malik Qayyum and the perception that he is serving as a link between the government and the Presidency. “The job of the Attorney General is not to be the link between the Presidency and the executive but between the executive and the judiciary. And that is the role which the post will have to revert to.” On why Mr Qayyum, who was heading the President’s legal team in the judicial crisis, is being retained, the PM replied that his government had not even completely been formed as yet. “The complete Punjab cabinet, for instance, has only just taken oath. When the process of government formation has been completed, the adjustments and replacements in these posts will also take place.”
PML N minister had to sit across the table across President Musharraf
ISLAMABAD, April 24: President Pervez Musharraf and some of his bitter political opponents shared the table at a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday for formation commanders and services chiefs at the lawns of the PM House. Senior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Federal Education Minister Ahsan Iqbal, both of whom are outspoken critics of the president, sat facing him all the way. Mr Iqbal even had his wife on the same table as spouses of the guests had also been invited to the dinner. Sources told Dawn that another critic of President Musharraf, PML-N’s Khawaja Mohammad Asif, attended the dinner, but did not share the table with him. Others present on the main table with the president and the prime minister included Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Gen Tariq Majeed, navy chief Afzal Tahir, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Information Minister Sherry Rehman and Privatisation Minister Naveed Qamar. This was the first time since the cabinet’s oath-taking, on March 31, that a number of PML-N ministers came face to face with the president.
Ministers at dinner with Musharraf irk Nawaz :hehe:
By Our Staff Reporter
LAHORE, April 25: PML-N leader Mian Nawaz Sharif has expressed displeasure at participation of ministers belonging to his party in a dinner which was attended by President Pervez Musharraf. The dinner had been given by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday for formation commanders and services chiefs. A source said that Mr Sharif was of the view that the participation had presented a negative image of the party which does not accept Musharraf as a legally elected president and also does not want any working relationship with him. The source said that Mr Sharif was particularly displeased because the ministers did not consult the party leadership before attending the dinner.
Re: PPP ministers Musical Dinner Date with President Musharraf
There were no less than 4 PML N ministers who attended Musical Dinner Date with President Musharraf and all turned up without their black armbands. For that they may face disciplinary action, from their now permanently angry leader Nawaz Sharif. :hehe:
Nawaz reprimands ministers for attending dinner where Musharraf was present
LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif reprimanded four federal ministers from his party who attended a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani in which President Pervez Musharraf was also present. Addressing a meeting with his party’s legislators in Islamabad on Saturday, he asked them not to attend any event where President Musharraf was present and warned them of disciplinary action if a member violated the directive, PML-N sources told Daily Times. He toldSenior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Petroleum Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Youth Affairs Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and Education Minsiter Ahsan Iqbalthat their participation in the dinner was “embarrassing” for him. Chaudhry Nisar and Ahsan Iqbal said they had been invited by the prime minister and did not know the president would attend the dinner. Nawaz said he had also been invited but that he had excused himself.
