Ministers from the party of former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif submitted their resignations from Pakistan's Cabinet yesterday, shaking the fragile coalition government that took power just six weeks ago.
Sharif announced on Monday that he was pulling his ministers from the government over its failure to meet a promise to reinstate judges ousted by archrival President Pervez Musharraf.
But Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani did not immediately accept the nine resignations yesterday. Gilani said he first wanted to consult his party's leader, Asif Ali Zardari, according to one of the nine, Education Minister Ahsan Iqbal.
A withdrawal of Sharif's party raises the prospect of the fledgling government collapsing, casting Pakistan into political turmoil just as it faces mounting economic woes and tries to maintain a fragile truce with Islamic militants along the Afghan border.
Sharif said his party would remain part of the ruling coalition, which is led by the party of Zardari, the widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Zardari's party expressed "respect" for the decision and said the parties remained close.
But a spokesman for Sharif sharpened the tone yesterday, accusing members of Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of "serving the interests" of Musharraf by blocking the judges' restoration.
"Such loyalists of Musharraf are to be blamed for our decision to quit the Cabinet," Sadiqul Farooq said.
Farooq said that Zardari aides had secret contacts with Musharraf.
Zardari party spokesman Farhatullah Babar denied there had been any back-channel contact with Musharraf and insisted his party remained committed to restoring the judges.
He said Zardari was to return to Pakistan from overseas late yesterday, meet party leaders and hold talks with Sharif at a later date.
Musharraf imposed emergency rule and purged the Supreme Court in November last year to forestall a ruling on his eligibility for office.
The coalition which came to power after routing Musharraf's supporters in February parliamentary elections vowed to reverse his crackdown. But the two leading parties have failed to agree just how to reinstate the judges despite weeks of wrangling.
Sharif insists a parliamentary resolution and a simple order from the government would suffice to bring back the justices.
But Zardari's party argues that the law must be changed first to accommodate those judges installed by Musharraf after the purge ??an attempt to make sure they do not resist the change. It is also seeking a package of judicial reforms to prevent the judges from getting involved in politics.
A permanent split in the coalition would boost Musharraf, a former army strongman who has taken a back seat since the new government took power in late March.
Opposition parties aligned with the president have signaled their readiness to join a new coalition with the PPP if its alliance with Sharif breaks down completely.
But Sharif said his party would not join the opposition "for the time being."
"We will not take any step which will benefit Musharraf's dictatorship," he said.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2