Islamabad: Pakistan's Parliament began debating a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday which, while not expected to succeed, could embarrass the government and President Pervez Musharraf.
The fractious Opposition united last week to lodge the motion against Aziz, accusing him of neglecting the poor and of corruption, but Opposition politicians launched the debate on Tuesday with criticism of the military's involvement in politics.
"Pervez Musharraf and military intervention in politics is the root of the evils plaguing Pakistan," Qazi Hussain Ahmed, leader of an alliance of six religious parties, told the Assembly.
Musharraf, an important US ally in the war on terrorism, is expected to seek another term as President next year. Ahmed accused Musharraf of bowing to US pressure to crack down on militants in border areas, and Aziz and his government of being Musharraf's "puppets".
Musharraf, who is also army chief, seized power in 1999. He has come under pressure from the Opposition to give up his army post. Aziz, a former banker and finance minister picked by Musharraf to head the government in 2004, was due to respond to the criticism, including accusations of corruption contained in a 500-page opposition dossier, later on Tuesday.
A vote is due after Aziz's response. Members of conservative religious parties and the liberal supporters of former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif also criticised the government over the killing of a nationalist rebel leader in Baluchistan province.
Veteran Baluch nationalist politician Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was killed in a government assault on his cave hideout in remote hills in gas-rich Baluchistan province on Saturday. "Nawab Akbar Bugti was murdered and this is part of the charge sheet against the government," said Makdoom Amin Fahim, a leader of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party.
The ruling party, Pakistan Muslim League (Q), has the support of about 200 members in the 342-seat Assembly. Under the constitution, the president is elected by parliament. Musharraf, whose term expires in November 2007, has already said he can be re-elected for another term by this assembly, before its dissolution and fresh elections.
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