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Berth-sharing talks on in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Representatives of the Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League (N) were closeted in a meeting on Thursday to finalise a formula for sharing Cabinet positions and allotting Ministries.

The two parties, which agreed to form a coalition government last week, have been in a series of meetings to discuss the details of their power sharing before the countdown to government formation begins with the first meeting of the National Assembly next Monday.

According to a report in the Dawn, the two parties will share Cabinet positions and parliamentary committees according to the proportion of their seats in the National Assembly.

Several names are already doing the rounds as front-runners for various portfolios. But the focus is still on the prime ministerial candidate, whose name the PPP leadership continues to hold close to its chest.

After a dinner meeting with PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday, the party’s sidelined deputy leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim, at one time the hot favourite to become the Prime Minister, said he remained a “strong candidate.”

Meanwhile, the other contender, Ahmed Mukhtar, has expressed his willingness to become Prime Minister “even for three days” if Mr. Zardari wants him to step aside after that.

The PML(N), which said earlier this week that it was on its objections that Mr. Fahim was no longer being considered as a candidate, appeared to backtrack on its statement after mediacriticism that it was overstepping the boundaries of coalition “dharma.”

The party said it was the PPP’s internal affair to nominate who it chose, and the PML(N) would support the PPP’s choice as long as it was a person who would take forward the democratic agenda.

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