Musharraf wins vote of confidence in parliaments

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 02, 2004

Musharraf wins vote of confidence in parliaments

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Thursday, Jan. 1, won vote of confidence in the federal and provincial parliaments, which has made him a "legal" president and will end a one-year long power struggle in the country.

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Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Thursday won vote of confidence in the federal and provincial parliaments, which has made him a "legal" president and will end a one-year long power struggle in the country.

The Senate and the National Assembly as well as four provincial assemblies started the process of vote of confidence simultaneously.

As many as 56 among the 99 Senate members voted in favor of the resolution for the vote of confidence in Musharraf whereas one vote was cast in opposition. The 42 members from the opposition benches were absent during the voting process which was completed smoothly in 25 minutes without any hindrance despite opposition's walk-out.

Musharraf won the vote of confidence in the 342-member National Assembly by 191 against none, while 58 members of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) abstained and 92 Muttahiddah Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) members absent.

ARD is an alliance of main opposition parties including the hardline religious MMA. It had been trying to force Musharraf to step down as the powerful army chief and opposed the Legal Framework Order (LFO) issued by Musharraf after last year's general elections.

LFO empowers Musharraf to sack the elected government and dissolve the National Assembly and to remain as the army chief. Musharraf, who came to power through a bloodless coup in 1999, wanted LFO to become part of the country's constitution, which has met strong opposition from ARD.

However, the deadlock was broken on Dec. 24 when the government and MMA reached an agreement under which MMA supported LFO and Musharraf agreed to take off his uniform by December 2004 and seekvote of confidence from the federal and provincial parliaments to become a "legal" president. MMA promised not to oppose Musharraf during the process of vote of confidence.

The Senate and the National Assembly passed the package of constitutional amendments earlier this week and Musharraf signed the bill into law Wednesday. Therefore he has got the power to dismiss a elected prime minister and the National Assembly.

Source: Xinhua

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