Present assemblies to re-elect Musharraf

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\01\18\story_18-1-2007_pg1_1
** Cabinet decides presidential election between September and October

By Irfan Ghauri

*ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet decided on Wednesday that the present assemblies would elect the next president between September and October this year.

“Constitutional experts briefed the cabinet that as per the Constitution, the presidential election has to be held between September and October while the present assemblies will complete their tenure on November 16,” Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

Asked if it had been decided categorically that the present assemblies would re-elect the president, Durrani said: “All the decisions will be taken as per the Constitution. There is no extraordinary situation to delay it.” He said the cabinet also decided that the ruling coalition would contest the next general elections jointly.

The cabinet also decided to re-introduce Rs 5 currency notes and the prime minister directed the State Bank to come up with new designs for the cabinet to consider. It also approved new composition, weight and size parameters for coins of Rs 1, 2 and 5 denominations.

The cabinet decided to enhance the jobs quota for Balochistan in the centre from 3.5 to 6 percent. It will decide quotas for other regions and provinces at its next meetings.

The cabinet gave the go ahead to the Interior Ministry to start negotiations with Britain on a draft agreement on counter-terrorism and organised crime; approved ratification of the charter of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, which provides for assistance to Asian and Pacific countries in developing their policies and capacities to mitigate the impact of disasters; approved in principle the proposed Prevention of Electronic Crime Bill 2006, but set up a committee headed by Shafifuddin Pirzada to look into the implementation mechanism and legal aspects of the bill within 30 days; approved amendments to the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947 which would empower the State Bank to take immediate action to deal with any person, exchange company or corporation that contravenes provisions of the act; and approved the small and medium enterprise (SME) policy, directing the Ministry of Industries, Production and Special Initiatives to seek approval for fiscal and tax measures proposed in the SME policy.

I knew Musharraf’s gameplan all along (I think most Pakistanis had long sussed him out) but now that the cabinet has let everyone know let’s see what stance the opposition parties will take. Do they really have the balls to boycott the next general elections? The next few weeks-months will also reveal the true nature of ARD. Can they walk the talk?

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Re: Present assemblies to re-elect Musharraf

old news. in fact no news.

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Re: Present assemblies to re-elect Musharraf

Although Musharraf's re-election was widely expected this is the first official announcement that the present assemblies would re-elect him

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Re: Present assemblies to re-elect Musharraf

Surprise Surprise!

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Re: Present assemblies to re-elect Musharraf

Can somebody give the statistics as how many seats can Musharraf secure in all four provincial assemblies, Senate and National Assembly?

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Re: Present assemblies to re-elect Musharraf

who ever comes in next election, will also re elect him. peace people. there is no need for him morally to get re ellected from out going assemblies.

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Re: Present assemblies to re-elect Musharraf

Another surprise!

http://dawn.com/2007/01/19/top1.htm
**No decision on presidential poll, Senate told

**The government denied in the Senate on Thursday that the cabinet had decided to get President Pervez Musharraf re-elected by the present parliament and provincial assemblies, calming down a protesting opposition that vowed to resist such a move.

But the ruling coalition reaffirmed its position inside and outside the upper house that, under the constitution, the next presidential election must fall between Sept 15 and Oct 15 during the lifetime of the present assemblies elected in 2002 for five years and that General Musharraf would be its candidate.

Opposition leader Raza Rabbani raised the issue on the basis of media reports that quoted Information and Broadcasting Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani as telling a news conference on Wednesday that a cabinet meeting the same day had decided to have President Musharraf re-elected by the present assemblies.

Mr Rabbani described the reported decision’ as unconstitutional and based on political bankruptcy’ and said if it were true, the opposition parties would resist it inside and outside parliament and could exercise the option of resigning from the assemblies before such a vote was taken.

But it was after some angry shouting between the opposition and treasury benches and a repeated query from the house presiding officer at the time, former law minister Khalid Ranjha of the ruling PML, that first Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Kamil Ali Agha and later Mr Durrani came out with denials of the media reports that the cabinet had taken such a decision.

“It is not the job of the cabinet to take such a decision. It is for the Election Commission to decide when to hold an election,” Mr Durrani said.

He said the cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, was briefed about constitutional provisions for the presidential election and `nothing more than that had happened’.

“If newspapers had drawn some other inferences, I am not responsible,” he added, drawing some words of satisfaction from the opposition leader.

The minister offered to present in the house the recordings of his Wednesday’s news conference to prove his point.

After the house was adjourned until 10am on Friday, the official APP news agency quoted Mr Durrani as telling a news conference that General Musharraf would be the joint candidate of the PML and its allies for the next presidential term.

Before that, when Mr Durrani was not present in the house, Mr Kamil Ali Agha said the issue of next general election to be held in January next year’ had come up before the cabinet and that the prime minister's Senior Adviser Sharifuddin Pirzadahad told the meeting that the presidential election would be due after Sept 15’.

Leader of the House Wasim Sajjad earlier drew opposition protests when he only quoted the constitutional provision that election to the office of president must be held `not earlier than 60 days and not later than 30 days’ before the expiration of the term of an incumbent rather than confirming or denying the reported cabinet ‘decision’.

Under this provision, he said, the presidential election must be held between Sept 25 and Oct 25 before the expiration of the present five-year term.

PPP’s Senator Babar Awan intervened to tell the house that Gen Musharraf would not be qualified to contest the presidential election because he was holding an office of profit as Chief of the Army Staff.

The day was also marked by a token opposition walkout to protest against Tuesday’s deadly military missile strike against suspected militants in South Waziristan after a pro-MMA senator from the area, Saleh Shah, told the house that the early morning attack targeted only local woodcutters working there.

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Re: Present assemblies to re-elect Musharraf

I think Musharraf should stick around for another 4 years.

Gwadar project will be done, the war in Iraq will wind down, and hopefully Afghanistan can be stabilized by that time, and peace process between India and Pakistan will have reached fruition.

Economy will be good, army will be strong, so then he can leave.

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Re: Present assemblies to re-elect Musharraf

Interesting new twist to the whole Presidential re-relection debate, that the PPP-P seems to be supporting.

Musharraf’s term to end in Dec ’08: PPP

The controversy over re-election of President Gen Pervez Musharraf for the next term took a new turn on Thursday when Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) claimed that the term of President Musharraf would end on December 31, 2008, and not October 15, 2007, as claimed by the government. PPP spokesman and former senator Farhatullah Khan Babar said in a statement that after the general election held in October 2002 Gen Musharraf got a vote of confidence, on December 31, 2003, from the present assemblies.

“As the term of president is for five years, the re-election of the president of Pakistan will occur on December 31, 2008, whereas the term of the new assemblies will begin latest by February 2008, if assemblies are dissolved by their last date in November 2007," he said. Mr Babar said one assembly could elect a president once, although it could elect another person as president if the office fell vacant through resignation or death.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/19/nat11.htm