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'King's party' nominee elected Pak. Speaker

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Nov. 19. In the first test of numbers in the National Assembly where no party has a simple majority, the pro-Musharraf parties today managed to get their nominee, Chaudhry Amir Hussain, elected as the Speaker in a three-cornered contest.

Mr. Hussain's election by 167 votes in a House of 335 members would mean that the pro-Musharraf grouping could get their nominee elected as the Leader of the House, who is appointed as the Prime Minister. The election is likely on Thursday.

While the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, has every reason to be pleased with the Speaker's election, the narrow margin in the poll is a reflection of the difficulties that lie ahead for the Government.

It would be a formidable Opposition particularly given the divide among the pro and anti-Musharraf parties on several contentious issues, including continuation of Gen. Musharraf as the President in uniform and several other amendments to the Constitution.

Opposition leaders who congratulated the new Speaker did not miss the opportunity to point out the "patently illegal" manner in which Gen. Musharraf had taken a fresh oath under the Legal Framework Order (LFO), amendments made by him to the Constitution. Some members were very blunt in declaring that they did not recognise Gen. Musharraf as President.

Votes polled by the three contenders tell the story in clear terms. While the `King's party' nominee who was elected as Speaker secured 167 votes, the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians candidate, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, got 71 votes and Liaqat Baloch of the Muttahida Majlis Amal (MMA) 80 votes. Nine votes were rejected as invalid.

There was some drama as PPP and MMA members staged a walkout from the House protesting the "irregularities" in polling and counting. Strangely, there were at least three blank papers stuffed into the ballot box.

There was no surprise in the outcome of the Speaker's election particularly after the three major political formations in the Assembly failed to arrive at an understanding on government formation.

Besides, the pro-Musharraf parties got a boost when the Muttahida Qami Movement (MQM) and Azim Tariq, independent member and chief of a banned sectarian group, announced their support to Mr. Hussain.

However, the support by MQM, which has 17 members in the Assembly, came with a price. On the eve of the voting in the Assembly, the Musharraf regime agreed to the party's demand for a crackdown on its rival group, Mohajir Qami Movement (Haquiqi) and launched a major operation in f Karachi against it.

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