Pakistan turns a new page of a democratic era on Monday as the newly elected National Assembly meets for its inaugural session.

The assembly meets against the backdrop of a stunning victory of anti-Musharraf parties in the February 18 elections and the ominous prospect of beginning of a protracted conflict between President Pervez Musharraf and the would-be coalition of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Awami National Party (ANP).

Some vital issues, including revival of supremacy of Parliament, restoration of judges sacked by Musharraf on November 3 and clipping the extra-ordinary powers acquired by Musharraf through arbitrary amendments in the constitution, are likely to dominate the national debate in the coming days and define his relationship with the new dispensation.

The restoration of judges has emerged as the most explosive issue amid Musharraf’s determination to block this development. The PPP and PML-N have signed an accord under which the issue would be tackled through a resolution in the assembly but Musharraf’s legal advisers insist that only two-third majority in both houses of Parliament was required to undo the dismissal of these judges.

Though unlike Musharraf’s inveterate foe and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, top leaders of the PPP and the ANP have kept the anti-Musharraf rhetoric under check, the Musharraf’s resolve to resist change is bound to bring him in direct confrontation with the coalition.

Sharif’s PML-N also challenges Musharraf’s constitutional credentials and legitimacy as the President saying he got himself elected through a sham election from the outgoing assemblies who had already lost their mandate as was proven in the elections.

The opening day will be devoted to oath-taking ceremony only in which the outgoing speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain will administer oath. He has pre-empted an impending controversy over the language of the oath saying there will be no change in the oath prescribed by the original 1973 constitution.

The assembly will elect speaker and deputy speaker on Wednesday after a break of one day when candidates for the two offices would file their nomination papers. According to an arrangement worked out between two major coalition partners, the PPP and the PML-N, both offices as also that of prime minister will go the PPP.

But uncertainty prevails about PPP candidates for all three slots. PPP ‘s co-chairman Asif Zardari is playing his cards close to his chest and is unlikely to disclose the names of the candidates for speaker and deputy speaker until Tuesday morning.

Speculations are rife that he may choose a member from Sindh a speaker that would be an indication that the prime minister would be named from Punjab. The front running for the office, Makhdoom Amin Fahim has almost lost his race despite intense lobbying which has backfired. Public support extended to Fahim by Pir Pagara and MQM chief Altaf Hussain has further dumped Fahim’s chances, if there were any.

Zardari is also likely to let a junior coalition partner like the ANP or the JUI to fill the post of deputy speaker.

Most of the newly elected members have already converged in the capital, which is humming with feverish political activity. Shortage of accommodation in the parliamentary lodges built for members of the National Assembly and Senate has led to some ugly scramble for allotment of these lodges. The National Assembly has 342 members and the Senate 100.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said his party is committed to the Murree Declaration that pledges to restore deposed judges through a resolution of Parliament, within 30 days, after the formation of a government.

He said the PPP stood for an independent judiciary and would would take concrete measures to realise this objective.

Talking to a group of about 70 members of the People’s Lawyers’ Forum, that called on him here at the Zardari House, Zardari said the party aimed at making Parliament supreme and would not allow any other institution to subvert its sovereignty.

“The PPP will provide justice to all, including the sacked judges, and to the institution of judiciary as a whole which has long been neglected and its independence has been eroded,” he said.

He said he himself had been a victim of the manipulation of a pliant judiciary at the hands of the executive and had spent 11 years in jail without conviction and therefore, was well aware of the the preeminence of the principle of an independent judiciary.

He said no other party or group had rendered greater sacrifices for the independence of judiciary and the sacked judges than the workers of the PPP. “No one, therefore, had a right to walk taller than the PPP workers on this issue,” he said.

President Pervez Musharraf is contemplating to quit his office, English daily The News quoting an unnamed presidential aide said today.

“He will leave the stage,” the aide, who has served Musharraf for several years, said. The paper said: “Musharraf is weighing the implications of the outcome of the February 18 elections and the threats posed by Asif Ali Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif to his rule.”

When asked whether the army would come to the rescue of the retired general if the new parliament and the new government restored the deposed judges or clipped President’s power, he said to his understanding the military would remain indifferent and stay out of politics.

The assessment of this close aide of Musharraf is contrary to the presidency’s repeated statements that Musharraf has no plans to quit and that he would continue in the office for five years.

President Musharraf got himself re-elected by parliament for the second term but the anti-Musharraf forces, particularly the PML-N, consider him as an unconstitutional and illegal President.

However, there has been a general perception, both in the political circles and the media, that the emergency-cum-martial law imposed by Musharraf was to pre-empt the Supreme Court’s decision against his candidature

After the elections, which have marginalised the pro-Musharraf parties but boosted the anti-Musharraf forces, there have been reports making the rounds during the recent weeks that Musharraf may quit anytime but hitherto the General seems to be sticking to his guns.

Islamabad, March 16
At least 20 persons were killed and several injured today in a missile strike on a house in Pakistan’s restive South Waziristan tribal area where the military is battling local Taliban.

At least seven missiles hit the residential compound at Shahnawaz Kot village, located 2 km from Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan. State-run PTV said 20 persons were killed in the attack.

Some of the dead were believed to be foreign nationals. Reports said some bodies were still trapped within the rubble and the death toll could rise.

Local residents said the missiles might have been fired from neighbouring Afghanistan or from a pilotless drone. They also said they had heard an aircraft flying over the area when the missile strike occurred.

The US-led forces in Afghanistan launched at least two missile strikes on Pakistan’s northwestern tribal areas with pilotless drones last month, including an attack that killed top Al-Qaida commander Abu Laith al Libi on February 4.

Pakistani troops are also engaged in operations against militants linked to Al-Qaida and the Taliban in South Waziristan.

In a separate incident at Mardan in the North West Frontier Province today, eight policemen were injured when the van they were travelling in struck a landmine. Three of the injured were in serious condition, officials concerned said. — PTI

Beijing, March 16
Wen Jiabao was today re-elected China’s Premier for a second five-year term with Parliament sealing his appointment in a formality through a secret ballot.

A charismatic leader, 65-year-old Wen was the only candidate for the premiership, ranked third in the Communist Party of China (CPC) hierarchy after the President and the top legislature speaker.

The premier is, however, the most visible face after the President and CPC general secretary, dual posts held by Hu Jintao, who won a fresh five-year mandate from the deputies of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the Chinese Parliament, yesterday.

Under the Chinese Constitution, the candidate for the premiership is nominated by the President before the secret balloting is held.

A key part of the fourth generation of the CPC leadership, Wen, a technocrat, has the image of being a “people’s premier” for being a man of the masses with a genial persona. — PTI

Tehran, March 16
Allies of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seized the largest share of Parliament seats in Iranian elections, nearly-complete official results showed today, but he is likely to face a more unruly Parliament.

Conservative critics of Ahmadinejad won a substantial bloc in the legislature, highlighting the growing discontent with the President's fiery style and failure to repair the country's ailing economy.

Reformists appeared likely to at least retain the small bloc they held in the outgoing Parliament - if not actually increasing it - prompting leaders of the movement to paint the election as a victory since most of their candidates were ejected from the race even before it began.

Iran's clerical leaders cheered the vote, which preserves the lock conservatives have had on Parliament since 2004.

The interior ministry reported turnout at around 60 per cent, up somewhat from 51 per cent in 2004 - though not reaching the around 80 per cent that flooded the polls in elections in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when a full slate of reformist candidates was allowed to run and was swept into power.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameni, thanked Iranians for their participation, saying they had turned US attempts to discredit the vote "into a vain bubble." Washington said Iran's leadership had "cooked" the election by barring reformists from running.

Ahmadinejad said the participation "placed the sign of disgrace on the forehead of enemies," the state new agency IRNA reported today. — AP

Cadres of the Communist Party of Nepal(Maoists) are posing a serious threat to the possibility of holding the election in a free and fair manner by intensifying their violent and undemocratic activities across the country.

They have breached the past pacts and understandings, including the election code of conduct. Cadres of the Young Communists League (YCL),the youth wing of former rebels, have abducted a leader of the Nepali Congress and former minister Shiva Raj Joshi from Ghat village of Surkhet district in mid-western region.

According to a police report, Joshi, who is also contesting the April 10 Constituent Assembly election, was abducted along with his party activists by the YCL cadres.

Joshi was on his election campaign and a group of YCL kidnapped him on a charge of entering the “Maoists’ base area” without taking their consent, the report said.

On Wednesday, the Maoist cadres had thrashed Dev Shankar Poudel, a candidate of the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML) contesting the election from Ramechhap district in eastern hilly region, on charge of launching an election campaign there.

Similarly, another group of YCL cadres had seized around Rs 6,00,000 and a citizenship certificate of former Prime Minister and chairman of Rastriya Janashakti Party Surya Bahadur Thapa from his party worker from Dhankuta district on Wednesday.

The United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR-N) has urged all political parties to respect the political rights of all others participating in the Constituent Assembly elections process.

“Attacks on political cadres this week in Ramechhap district, in which at least four persons were seriously hurt, and reported kidnappings of cadres in Chitwan and Dhankuta are serious impediments to creating an environment conducive to free and fair elections,” said Richard Bennett, representative of OHCHR-N.

Anura Bandaranaike, the younger brother of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga passed away at his residence today after a prolonged illness, ending the political dynasty of the Bandaranaike family in Sri Lanka.

The former minister of national heritage, who gave up his portfolio end last year following differences with President Mahinda Rajapakse, was the son of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) founder, S.W.R.D Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike, both of whom served as Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka. Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the first female Prime Minister in the world in 1960 after the assassination of her husband.

Although his family was associated with the SLFP Anura Bandaranaike lived a chequered political life, shifting from the SLFP to the main Opposition, the United National Party (UNP) early in his political career.

However, in recent years Bandaranaike was with the SLFP but after failing to get nominated as Presidential candidate he had a strained relationship with the party hierarchy.

Following the victory of Mahinda Rajapakse in Presidential poll in November 2005 Bandaranaike was not appointed Prime Minister as expected but instead was offered the tourism portfolio.

In February 2007, he was sacked along with with the late Sripathi Sooriyaarachi and former Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. But, later he reconciled with Mahinda Rajapaksa and was appointed minister for national heritage, a portfolio he held till he sat with the opposition and walked out of parliament during the final Budget voting in 2008.

After the ending of the Presidential term of Chandrika Kumaratunge in 2005 Anura Bandaranaike, who remained a bachelor, was the only member of the Bandaranaike family in politics.

Colombo, March 16
The Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka have expressed readiness to hold talks with the government here if it halted the military operations against them, but warned that the offer should not be seen as "any desperation" on their part to stop the war.

"The LTTE is prepared to commence negotiations with the Sri Lankan government if the government security forces are ordered to halt their military operations.It was the government which started the war," LTTE political head P. Nadesan told a group of parliamentarians from the pro-rebel Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in Wanni recently.

"The offer of the LTTE for a ceasefire and talks should not be construed as any desperation on our (LTTE) part to stop the war.The ball is in the Sri Lankan government's court.It was they who started the armed attack," Nadesan was quoted as saying by Suresh Premachandran, a TNA MP from Jaffna district who was present at the meeting.

Nadesan had held lengthy discussions with the 13 TNA MPs who had gathered for the funeral of their colleague K Sivanesan, who was killed in a roadside bomb attack on March 6 in Wanni.

"The (LTTE) political chief Nadesan said the LTTE can reciprocate if the Sri Lankan government offers a ceasefire but if they want to continue with the attack, the LTTE is fully prepared for it," Premachandran said here. — PTI

London, March 16
A burglary of 3,000 pounds collected as donations during Mahashivratri festival has put devotees and officials at a temple in the UK in a state of shock.

The incident happened last week at the International Siddashram Shakti Centre in Harrow where the burglar stole the money which had been collected during the festival on March 6, after reportedly breaking two collection boxes and a display cabinet.

"This is shocking news, it has never happened before.This is public money which has been stolen, which would have been used for sending clothes to India, looking after animals, and also paying the bills of the temple," Rajeshji Parmar, founder of the temple, said.

"Maybe the person who burgled us knew the money was there. People were coming to the temple all day and all night, donating lots of money, and he must have known it was still inside and hadn't been deposited yet," he told mediamen.

The thief was captured on CCTV camera, damaging a basement door and two windows as he smashed his way into the temple from the adjacent park at 1.44 am (local time).

He was described as a middle-aged man with a beard and balding hair. He was wearing a black jacket, a beige jumper, black shoes, and blue jeans. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Woman held for abandoning son
TOKYO: The police arrested a mother whose 2-year-old son died after she allegedly left him and his siblings alone at home for 10 days, officials said on Sunday. The 29-year-old woman was arrested on Saturday for the alleged abandonment of the boy, said a police official in Saitama. The woman’s father found the boy at the house lying on a quilt, not breathing, he added. — AP

Iran bus fire
TEHRAN: Twenty-two university students were killed in a fire when their bus collided with a vehicle transporting fuel in western Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday. The bus, which was taking the male students back home to north-eastern city of Mashhad, crashed with the heavy goods vehicle, on Saturday evening, on a road between Khuzestan and Lorestan provinces. — AFP

US crane crash
NEW YORK: A 15-storey-high crane being used in the construction of a skyscraper in midtown Manhattan has collapsed, killing at least four people, and injuring 10. One building was destroyed and three others damaged by the debris as the crane broke into pieces on Saturday afternoon. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg described the tragedy as one of the worst construction accidents in the city. — PTI

Husain’s paintings
NEW YORK: A group working to advance Indian cultural heritage, along with a Hindu organisation, has threatened to hold a demonstration unless the Christie’s Art Gallery here stops the auction of paintings by M.F. Husain on March 20. In a letter to Christie’s, the Indian-American Intellectual Forum and the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti said the painter had gained “ignominy and notoriety” in India by painting several gods and goddesses in “derogatory” forms. — PTI