Govt, coalition agree to dissolve NA before March 15

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of coalition partners of the PPP-led government was held at the President House Tuesday in which the leaders agreed to dissolve the National Assembly before March 15 followed by the general elections in May, Geo News reported Wednesday.

During the meeting, Muneer Orakzai suggested that the National Assembly should be dissolved on March 14 that was unanimously accepted by the leaders.

Another meeting will be called to finalise the date for dissolution of assemblies and holding elections. Law minister will prepare the relevant documents for the same purpose.

Israrullah Zahiri demanded to end the governor rule in Balochistan on which the president responded that soon he will know the future of it.

It was also decided in the meeting that Chaudhry Shujaat will take Tahirul Qadri into confidence over the dissolution of assemblies.

Separate talks were also held between Chaudhry Shujaat and President Zardari.

The meeting with the coalition partners was jointly presided by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and President Asif Ali Zardari. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the PML-Q, MQM and ANP.

The meeting was called to discuss issues relating to dissolution of assemblies, caretaker setup and upcoming general election.

Those who participated in the meeting were: federal ministers, MQM’s Dr Farooq Sattar, Nasrin Jalil and Raza Haroon, PML-Q’s Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Mushahid Hussain Syed, ANP’s Afrasiab Khattak and Haji Adeel and lawmakers from FATA Hamidullah Jan Afridi and Munir Orakzai .