Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf asserted May 11 that former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif would not be allowed to return from exile.
All the behind the scenes drama and the between the lines intrigue from Pakistan, a day before the presidential poll.
The ruling Pakistan People's Party's efforts to finalise a constitutional reforms package suffered a major setback after it failed to achieve consensus with the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on the procedure for appointing judges and on renaming the North West Frontier Province.
'We welcome (you) back to the purana Pakistan,' top Opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Sunday, as he took a jibe at ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan following the adoption of a no-confidence vote against him.
Pakistan Peoples Party chief Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif on Friday failed to break the deadlock over modalities for impeaching Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and reinstating deposed judges.
Senior leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition partners the Pakistan's People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz -- will resume talks for the fourth day in Dubai on Thursday, about finalising a deal to reinstate deposed judges, while insisting that there is no threat to the government. "We have made progress during seven hours of marathon meetings, but there are still differences on certain legal issues," PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar said.
Even as the talks between leaders of Pakistan's coalition government on restoration of deposed judges remain inconclusive, co-chairman of Pakistan People's Party Asif Ali Zardari has said the reinstatement would be brought about through a constitutional package. The PPP calls for reinstatement of judges through a constitutional package, but the PML-N insists that they should be restored through a parliamentary resolution, as initially agreed by the two parties.
Bhutto had earlier said that her party would contest the polls 'under protest', while Sharif has backed the All Parties Democratic Movement's decision to boycott the polls.
Millions of Pakistanis will go to the polls on Saturday to vote for a landmark democratic transition of power after a bloody campaign, marred by Taliban violence that killed over 100 people, forced key parties to abandon rallies and large gatherings.
The distribution of ministries and parliamentary committees was discussed by top leaders of the PPP and PML-N in Islamabad on Thursday, though the final decision on the government is expected to be announced only on March 17, shortly before the first session of the new National Assembly. Sources said the two parties were yet to decide about key ministries like interior, finance, foreign affairs and defence.
Mian Javed Latif said a decision on PML-N supremo and the three-time prime minister Sharif's anticipated return will be discussed with the coalition partners.
Saudi Arabia has assured Nawaz Sharif that it will take up the issue of his "exile" and "deportation" with Pakistan after Eid-ul-Fitr, the deposed premier's party has claimed.
Quoting a senior PML-Q official, the report said, "He's been sulking...He's retreated into a mental bunker, which is not healthy. He thinks everyone is out to get him and only listens to a small circle. It's a dangerous mindset to be in at this point in time. He could decide to hit back."
Jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz with 64 and former president Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party with 43 seats are placed at number two and three respectively, the Election Commission of Pakistan said.
Prime minister-designate Nawaz Sharif, known for being soft towards militant groups, on Monday said the Pakistani Taliban's offer of talks should be taken seriously because the problem of militancy cannot be solved through the use of power and bullets. Addressing newly elected parliamentarians and legislators of his Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz party at the Aiwan-e-Iqbal hall in Lahore, Sharif stressed the need to respond to the Taliban's offer.
Some promises made in Benazir Butto's new manifesto strike at the very root of Musharraf's power base while others -- including handing over control of the Military Initelligence and the nuclear arsenal to the prime minister -- go even beyond that.
Pakistan premier Yousuf Raza Gillani on Wednesday said that the fate of President Pervez Musharraf would be decided according to the Constitution while the judges deposed by him will be reinstated in the true spirit of an agreement reached between the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in this regard.Gillani, who belongs to the PPP, called on Sharif and his brother Shahbaz at their Raiwind estate in Lahore after addressing a business meet.
Musharraf had deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other judges after he imposed emergency in November 2007. The judges had challenged the constitutional validity of the emergency imposed by him. Musharraf had replaced the judges with a hand-picked judiciary, who also validated his re-election as president.
Pakistan's deteriorating political and security situation has fuelled media speculation that the powerful army may be forced to intervene amid reports it has even asked President Asif Ali Zardari to quickly set things right with his political rival and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif.
The decision was taken by the Opposition alliance, the All Parties Democratic Alliance, headed by Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N at a meeting in Peshawar.
Pakistan's late military ruler Zia-ul-Haq's son has served a legal notice on a banker, who is at the centre of a scandal over the funding of politicians by the Inter-Services Intelligence in 1990, for claiming that he gave millions of rupees to his family.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's party has called Musharraf's bluff.
Former Pakistan prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-N Chief Nawaz Sharif was on Wednesday admitted to a London hospital after complaining of heart pain.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf believes that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will part ways because of several insurmountable issues. However, Musharraf's main ally, the PML-Q, holds the opposite view.
The courts in Pakistan have been flooded with petitions as candidates, mostly backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), challenged the results of Thursday's general elections, alleging rigging.
The stage is set for talks between Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League - N chief Nawaz Sharif on a draft parliamentary resolution for reinstating judges, sacked last year by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, with the arrival of the Pakistan People's Party co-chairman in London on Thursday. Besides the question of judges' restoration, the two leaders will also review national and political developments.
Some elements in an intelligence agency were using their links in the PPP and the media to establish that Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan is trying to become a candidate for the position of either the prime minister or the president through the PML-N. But their efforts to create a rift between the two opposition parties, which are planning to form a coalition government, failed.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy Satinder Lambah Monday met Pakistan Muslim League leader Nawaz Sharif, who is set to become the prime minister, and discussed ways to take forward the dialogue process to address all the issues of concern between the two countries.
Former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Sunday filed her nomination for the January 8 general elections while her arch rival and Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Nawaz Sharif, who returned from seven years in exile, will file his papers on Monday.
Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani "gave his word" on Sunday to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz that his government will not extend any help to former president Pervez Musharraf to defend himself in any court of law as they agreed to bridge the "trust deficit" between the parties.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday acquitted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif of hijacking charges, stemming from the military coup against his government in 1999, paving the way for his return to electoral politics. Sharif had been banned from office by a lower court after being found guilty of hijacking the then army chief General Pervez Musharraf's plane in 1999.
Musharraf, 79, was suffering from amyloidosis, a rare disease caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues throughout the body, The Express Tribune reported.
The complainant claimed that he had received a video clip on his WhatsApp which showed a man making an 'anti-army' speech.
The prime minister needs 172 votes in the lower house of 342 to foil the Opposition's bid to topple him.
"Musharraf has become highly controversial and elections would not be free and fair under him," Sharif told a news conference after chairing a meeting of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party to chalk out its strategy for the February 18 parliamentary polls.
The All Pakistan Muslim League has served a legal notice of $5 million to a British newspaper over allegations it levelled against the political party and its head, former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
Sharif was sent on exile to Jeddah after he was sentenced for life by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan for preventing the plane of General Pervez Musharraf from landing before the military coup of October 1999.
The Pakistan army is staring at the greatest, scariest, existential threat to its power in their country. This threat has come from a populist riding democratic power, observes Shekhar Gupta.
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