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Sherry Rehman quits over move to block Geo

ISLAMABAD: The resignation of Sherry Rehman as Pakistan’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting came after a heated meeting late on Friday at which Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is reported to have advised President Asif Ali Zardari to roll back Governor’s rule in Punjab imposed last month to oust the Pakistan Muslim league (N) provincial government.

At the meeting, at which a handful of senior Cabinet members and Pakistan People’s Party managers were also present, Ms. Rehman is said to have expressed opposition to the decision to block the transmission of Geo Television, apparently taken without consulting her.

Geo was blocked on Friday night, during the height of a political crisis for the government as lawyers and opposition groups, led by Pakistan mkuslim League (N) leader Nawaz Sharif, threatened to march on the capital demanding the restoration of the deposed chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhary.

Media persons and civil society activists rallied against the decision in Islamabad and Lahore, shouting slogans that were last heard against the former President, Pervez Musharraf, when he banned Geo and a host of other television channels.

Ms. Rehman, a former journalist herself, is said to have repeatedly pushed for undoing the decision, which has been widely criticised as reminiscent of actions by the previous Musharraf regime that the PPP claims credit for unravelling.

But the government’s main spinmeister through the thick and thin of the past 10 months was reportedly not given a hearing, and resigned saying she could not be party to “anti-people” decisions.

On Saturday evening, Ms. Rehman’s resignation was accepted by Mr. Gilani, who is also said to have appointed Qamaruzzaman Kaira, Minister of Kashmir Affairs, as Information Minister.

The resignation added to Mr. Zardari’s woes within the PPP, large sections of which are already alienated by his style of leadership.

Earlier this week, Raza Rabbani, a veteran of the PPP, resigned from his ministerial post and as leader of the House in the Senate, Pakistan’s Upper House of Parliament, after he was overlooked for the coveted post of Senate Chairman.

Two Benazir loyalists, Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbasi, have also come out openly against Mr. Zardari, urging him to fulfil his promise to restore Mr. Chaudhary unconditionally.

According to a report in The News, the Friday night meeting, which continued into the early hours of Saturday, was another attempt by Mr. Gilani to persuade Mr. Zardari to accept a “constitutional package” of concessions to Mr. Sharif, including some way of restoring Mr. Chaudhary, after an earlier attempt by him and General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ended unsuccessfully.

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