News
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Musharraf to welcome new MPs
* President expected to deliver televised address soon
By Azaz Syed
ISLAMABAD: President Musharraf is likely to welcome the newly elected MNAs in an address to the nation within the next few days. Sources told Daily Times on Saturday that this would be the first time that Musharraf would greet the newly elected MNAs of the PPP and the PML-N — both of whom have opposed his policies for the past eight years. The PML-N and the PPP have both said that their priority is reducing the sweeping powers accumulated by Musharraf since he seized power in 1999, according to AFP. They said that the president, who has repeatedly expressed a willingness to work with his political opponents, would welcome the newly elected parliamentarians as a confidence-building step. The sources said that apart from taking credit for free and fair election in the elections, Musharraf might also praise the members of parliament for their political reconciliation in his address. The incoming coalition government comprises the PPP, the PML-N, the ANP and the JUI-F. The sources said that the president was not willing to resign from the office of the presidency. Television: Separately, sources in the state-run PTV told Daily Times that they had been asked to set up a stage to record a presidential address to the nation. However, presidential spokesman Major General (r) Rashid Qureshi said that he was not aware of any such address in the near future.
Courtesy Daily Times