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Sunday, 17 November 2002 |
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Pakistan parliament meets for first time in 3 years ISLAMABAD, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Pakistan's parliament convened for the first time in three years on Saturday without accord on who should lead it, shortly after military ruler General Pervez Musharraf was sworn in for a new five-year term as president. The pro-military Pakistan Muslim League won most seats in elections on October 10, but not enough to rule alone in the 342-member National Assembly, which was suspended after Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999. The Muslim League has been trying to form a coalition with an alliance of six right-wing Islamic parties that fought the election on a strong anti-U.S. platform. Fazal-ur-Rehman, a hardline cleric who backed the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan and is the alliance candidate for prime minister, vowed on Friday it would not be sworn into the assembly as a protest against constitutional changes designed to ensure continued military dominance. Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terror, was earlier sworn in as president by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, which legitimised his rule for the past three years but asked him to hold parliamentary elections. |
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