Change of government has become inevitable as the PPP-led coalition government of Prime Yousuf Raza Gilani has failed on all fronts a central leader and former Central Information Secretary of Pakistan Muslim League (N) Siddiqul Farooq said Saturday.
Talking to Business Recorder after Prime Minister Gilani's morale boosting speech at the Lahore Chamber's award distribution ceremony, Farooq said, "as a first step, PML (N) has withdrawn its support for the PPP-led coalition government which was a guarantee for completion of its five-year term."
He recalled that PML (N) Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif had been assuring the PPP leadership in the past that his party would not let the PPP government fall through vote of no-confidence or other means. "Since the present government has failed on all fronts, PML (N) has now withdrawn its support and the government change is inevitable," he added.
However, the PML (N) leader emphasised that any change in government should be in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution With regard to former President Pervez Musharraf's political future, Farooq said the Constitution does not empower the Prime Minister to pardon a person who had committed "high treason" under Article 6 of the Constitution. He alleged that Prime Minister Gilani had failed to perform his constitutional obligation to file a reference against Musharraf on charges of high treason for violating the Constitution and putting the Chief Justice and other judges of the superior courts under house arrest.
Another PML (N) leader Pervaiz Malik, MNA clarified that though the political atmosphere has heated up in the country, still PML (N) didn't want any extra-constitutional measures for change of the government. He said PML (N) leadership had been calling upon the PPP-led coalition government to improve its governance, respect the court verdicts and make sincere efforts for solving problems of the country, but its sincere advises were not taken seriously.
Malik described the unification of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain's PML (Q) and Pir Pagaro's PML (F) as 'zero + zero = zero' without making any significant impact on the national political horizon. He claimed that these two parties had no mass support, therefore they were looking for ways and means for their political survival after rejection by voters in the previous elections.