Secretary Information Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Zahid Khan has contradicted a news report that ANP has advised Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to dissolve the federal cabinet. Talking to reporters outside Parliament House here on Friday, he said that the ANP never proposed the premier to dissolve the federal cabinet. He underlined the need to build consensus among the political forces so that the incumbent government could complete its five-year term.
Earlier, in a news report a statement was attributed to Zahid Khan that the ANP had advised the prime minister to dissolve the federal cabinet and constitute a new 35-member cabinet to defuse the growing pressure of opposition following losing majority in the Parliament.
"We neither talked about cutting cabinet size nor made any demand," Zahid Khan said while contradicting the news report, adding that any such decision has to be taken by the government. However, he added, there is no need of such a huge cabinet, as the country is facing economic crisis. Commenting on the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) three-day ultimatum to the government, the ANP secretary-information said that it would be in the interest of the country that the two major political parties, PPP and PML-N should develop consensus on issues of national interest. To a question, he said that the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was ready to enter into conditional dialogue with the Taliban, however the later has to lay down arms in the fast place.