National Assembly Meets: Endorses Emergency in Pakistan         
'Pakistan Times' Parliamentary Correspondent

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly of Pakistan on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing proclamation of emergency in the country.

The Assembly endorsed the state of emergency declared in Pakistan by President General Pervez Musharraf.

Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights Zahid Hamid laid before the National Assembly thirteen ordinances on Wednesday.

These ordinances were : The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Ordinance, 2007 (No XLIII of 2007);The Patents (Second Amendment) Ordinance,2007 (No XLIV of 2007);The Money Laundering Ordinance, 2007 (No XLV of 2007);The Federal Public Service Commission (Amendment) Ordinance,2007 (No XLVI of 2007);The National Database and Registration Authority (Second Amendment Ordinance, 2007 (No XLVII of 2007);The Pakistan Engineering Council (Second Amendment) Ordinance,2007 (No XLIX of 2007);The Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan Ordinance,2007 (No L of 2007);The Defence Housing Authority Islamabad Ordinance,2007 (No LI of 2007);The Competition Ordinance, 2007 (No LII of 2007);The National Disaster Management Ordinance, 2007 (No LIII of 2007);The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan Ordinance, 2007 (No LIV of 2007);The Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions (Regulation and Promotion) Ordinance ,2007 (No LV of 2007).

Date of Elections

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the decision on the date of the next elections would be taken on November 14.

Minister of state for information Tariq Azeem said that the prime minister told this to the meeting of the parliament members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League.

According to Tariq Azeem, President Pervez Musharraf also addressed the meeting and said that he listened to the opinion of the parliament members and now he would take his own decision.

The President also said that he wanted to minimize the schedule of the elections.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the efforts would be made to minimize the period of emergency.

The federal cabinet meeting, presided over by the prime minister was also held in Islamabad on the second consecutive day to review the present situation of the country, emergency and discuss the agenda of the National Assembly session.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that emergency was imposed due to extraordinary situation of the law and order in the country and the absence of harmony between the pillars of the state.

According to the sources, some ministers suggested to lift the emergency early and to hold the elections on time while the majority of the cabinet members stressed to postpone the elections for three months.●