Pakistan People's Party urged to announce nominee for PM

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The federal minister for Information and Broadcasting of Pakistan on Sunday asked the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to announce its nominee for the slot of Prime Minister as the Constitution does not allow Benazir Bhutto to become Prime Minister for another term.

"As the constitution does not permit Benazir Bhutto to become prime minister for a third term, the PPP should bring forth its nominee for the top slot," Muhammad Ali Durrani said at a press conference in Lahore, capital of the eastern Punjab province.

Durrani said he would launch separate white papers on the performance of the governments of PPP, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.

"I would soon launch three separate white papers on the performance of the governments run by the PPP, PML-N and PML-Q. These white papers would be based on the reports issued by the above-mentioned governments and those issued by the international organizations on their performance. All the three parties have ruled the country for almost same period i.e. five years and these white papers would expose the performance of all the three governments. This would help the nation distinguish between the plunderers of their exchequer and those who served them," Durrani said.

When asked whether the ruling coalition was considering delaying the general elections, Durrani said the coalition parties were well prepared for the polls.

"On the other hand the opposition is totally in tatters. From The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) to All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) the opposition parties are polls apart and they lack election agenda, leadership and program. Neither they have a candidate for the top slot nor do they have unity among their ranks," Durrani said.

On a question whether the government was considering withdrawing the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), Durrani said the PML-Q government was a responsible entity and it stood committed to its political initiatives.

"NRO was issued after the approval of the cabinet as we wanted to introduce the flavor of reconciliation in the political climate of the country," Durrani said, adding that as the NRO was pending with the Supreme Court, it would be inappropriate to comment on the issue.