Cabinet to discuss vital issues today

Published February 14, 2005

ISLAMABAD, Feb 13: President Gen Pervez Musharraf will attend a special meeting of the federal cabinet convened at the Prime Minister House on Monday.

Sources told Dawn that participants had been asked to report latest by 8am in informal dress and without cellular phones.

They will be expected to remain at the Prime Minister House throughout the day and have lunch and dinner with the prime minister. Knowledgeable sources claimed that the main purpose of the meeting was to discuss and develop a consensus on the proposed constitutional package for Balochistan and provincial autonomy.

The meeting was also likely to hold informal discussions on the ongoing PPP-government talks for a political deal, the sources said. Some non-cabinet members may also be invited to brief the ministers on various issues facing the country.

The programme also includes an orientation session planned by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on aspects of corruption-related cases and educating the participants on corruption cases established by it so far.

A source claimed that the meeting was going to be decisive in seeking to overhaul and change the whole system of governance. A minister of state told Dawn that ministers had been informed about a workshop type gathering a couple of months ago, which would remain in session the whole day.

The informed sources claimed that the president and prime minister would take the ministers into confidence on a number of national and international issues, including Balochistan, construction of big dams and a change in the political system.

There are also speculations that a session of the meeting would cover review of various ministries and assigning of duties to the ministers of state apart from their duties already defined. There will be lectures for the ministers on various difficult issues that they confront during their performance and their solutions.

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