ISLAMABAD: Opposition party said Monday it would boycott a banquet being hosted by the prime minister for Turkey's premier, as a protest against the leader's conviction for contempt.
The snub from opposition leader Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N is likely to embarrass Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in front of his visiting Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is widely admired in Pakistan.
The PML-N has demanded that Gilani resign, saying the conviction disqualifies him from office and has called for early elections, not due before February 2013.
"No one (from the party) is going to the dinner, because we do not recognise him as prime minister," PML-N media coordinator Asim Niazi told AFP.
Senior PML-N leaders said, however, that the party would set domestic politics aside to attend the parliamentary session, because "Erdogan is our honoured guest".
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.