Opp eyes in-House change

LAHORE An in-house change at the centre is the real objective of the contacts JUI-F Ameer Maulana Fazlur Rehman has started making with other political parties. Knowledgeable political sources say that powers that be dont want premature elections, but they are also worried because of the deteriorating situation in the country. Therefore, it is said, efforts have been started to bring a new leadership at the centre. Maulana Fazl hosted a meeting of the leaders of all important parties at his Islamabad residence on Friday, and he held talks with the Jamaat-i-Islami in Lahore on Saturday. He will host a dinner in Lahore today of all the bigwigs of opposition parties. Sources say that the activity started by the JUI-F chief upset the prime minister to an extent that he phoned the Maulana on Saturday evening. He asked him why he had started all this when the situation was quite peaceful. I hope you wont do anything that washes away the setup, JUI-F sources quoted the prime minister as saying while talking to the Maulana. Sources said although the two leaders also exchanged views on the floods situation in Dera Ismail Khan, the real flood that came under discussion was political. It is said that an in-house change will become a real possibility when the MQM stopped supporting the government. The day the MQM sat on opposition benches depriving the PPP-led coalition of support of 25 MNAs - the government will collapse. The fate of the present government depends on the MQMs future course of action. Sources say that no change would be brought about before the budget, as no party would like to put itself in a different situation. However, the process of change would be expedited once the budget was passed. At some appropriate time, the possibility of impeaching the president would also be discussed. Once the government collapses, the president will come under pressure and he will have to think about his options, an important leader involved in making contacts with other parties said.

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