Islamabad, May 20: Pakistan is confident it will win readmission to the commonwealth this weekend after a three-and-a-half-year suspension, but analysts warned the repression of opposition figures may cloud its prospects. The Commonwealth's nine-member ministerial action group (CMAG) will meet in London tomorrow and Saturday to discuss readmitting the world's second largest Muslim country, which was suspended over an October 1999 bloodless coup by Army Chief-turned-President, General Pervez Musharraf.
Islamabad's hopes that it would be readmitted to the 53-nation club after parliamentary polls in October 2002 have been dashed so far, with Commonwealth members citing democracy concerns and opposition complaints about Musharraf's unelected presidency and sweeping powers.

But since Musharraf promised to quit the army by the end of the year and the Parliament approved his controversial changes to the constitution, optimism has risen among Pakistani officials that "goalposts" of democracy have been met.
"We should be readmitted because all issues have been resolved, elections were held in 2002, the Constitution issue is behind us and we have a fully functional democracy," foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan told agencies.
Bureau Report