Islamabad, Nov 05: Overcoming her reservations, former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto has reportedly okayed top Islamic cleric Maulana Fazlur Rehman as the prime ministerial candidate to head a coalition government comprising of the religious and moderate political parties, which are opposed to President Pervez Musharraf.
After two days of negotiations, Nawabzada Nasarullah Khan, chief of the 15-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD)- which included Bhutto`s Pakistan Peoples
Party Parliamentarians (PPPP)- announced here today that ARD and the six religious party alliance Muthahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) "in principle" reached an agreement on the candidates for the posts of prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker.
He however declined to disclose the names, but highly placed sources in PPPP told a news agency here that Bhutto has finally agreed to the candidature of MMA Nominee Rehman as next Prime Minister. The names would officially be announced after
completion of the talks.
Confirming Nasarullah Khan`s statement on agreement between ARD and MMA, Faratullah Babar, PPPP spokesman, said that his party has conveyed its consent to the ARD leader to form MMA-PPPP coalition government.
While the candidates for the posts of Prime Minister, speaker and deputy speaker have been identified, consultations between MMA and PPPP were on to work out the formation of the government.
However, both MMA and the ARD were silent about providing
a safe passage to Bhutto to return from her self-exile and
about the release of her husband Asif Ali Zardari, who is in
jail for the past six years.
Bureau Report
