Speaker of the Suspended National Assembly Elahi Baksh Soomro has called a meeting of members of Pakistan Muslim League of exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif amidst speculation that the military regime is working towards restoration of the house and the installation of "sympathetic" civilian government, media reports have said. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is working to ensure optimum attendance of the meeting scheduled after Eid-Ul-Fitr to seek PML parliamentary group backing for a possible restoration of the suspended national and provincial Assemblies, The Nation newspaper said. The members have been told that they have "little option but to attend the meeting," the daily quoted an unidentified political source as saying.
The National Assembly and four provincial assemblies in Pakistan were suspended after a military coup led by Gen Pervez Musharraf on October 12 last year ousting the government of Nawaz Sharif. The apparent coordination between the military and the Speaker of the suspended National Assembly has arisen speculation that Soomro could be Prime Minister of a PML-led coalition government, the newspaper said.
Liaosihan has been conceived by a powerful troika, the members of which are believed to be two senior military officers and a highly-placed civilian bureaucrat. Bureau Report