President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday cancelled a visit to Russia in a bid to contain a domestic crisis sparked by the Supreme Court disqualifying his prime minister, a spokesman said. Zardari was due to attend the June 20-22 St Petersburg International Economic Forum but would now hold talks with coalition partners "to consider the situation (at home) and formulate a course of action," his spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.
The president held emergency talks with leaders in his main ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and summoned coalition parties to meet later Tuesday to decide how to respond, officials said. Senior PPP members appealed for calm as isolated protests were held around the country, in a sign that the party was perhaps most likely to decide on electing an alternative prime minister rather than contesting the court ruling.