With growing MMA-Establishment confrontation serving as the backdrop, NWFP Governor Khalilur Rehman met Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz here on Monday and sought guidance on how to bridle the headstrong provincial government. Under sharper focus, however, was the recently held PONM protest in Peshawar, which the governor told the Prime Minister was "in violation" of the Constitution warranting strong action, a source said.
According to the source, Khalilur Rehman also discussed various options the ruling coalition headed by Shaukat Aziz can choose from to fill-up the vacancy in the Senate, as the former had resigned from his seat in the Upper House to become the NWFP governor.
Last Thursday, the NWFP section of the PONM held its protest rally on a thoroughfare that was denied to it by the local administration but sanctioned by the MMA-led provincial government. Pitted against each other Governor Khalilur Rehman and Chief Minister Akram Durrani exchanged harsh-written accusatory letters, precipitating crisis, which still hangs over the Frontier government.
The governor and Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao both have obliquely hinted of taking action against the MMA government under the Constitution, but have stopped short of that brinkmanship, given the widely-held belief the Islamabad-based Establishment might not be able to handle the aftermath.
The NWFP is currently governed exclusively by the MMA, which also shares power with a disparate group of other political parties in Balochistan and heads the Opposition in the National Assembly.
Under Article 234, on receipt of a report from the governor, that a situation has arisen in which the government of the province cannot be carried on in accordance with the Constitution, the President may assume to himself or direct the governor to assume "all or any" of the functions of provincial government.
The President may not go for full-fledged governor rule in the NWFP, the source said, adding that despite the vast divergence that exists between President Musharraf and the MMA they share the common perception that the present legislatures should continue till 2007. This clearly contrasts with the thinking of the ARD, which demands immediate elections.
The source added that it is quite possible that the President will suspend the provincial government for a period of two to three months, but his legal experts have yet to approve of this device.
The Centre might desist from taking the ultimate action against the Durrani government also for that little light at the end of the tunnel that burns in the form of a recent resolution by the apex body of the JUI (Fazl), the main component of the MMA, that wants the MMA to allow Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Akram Durrani to attend the meetings of the National Security Council.
Political pundits in the Capital are intrigued by the growing divergence between the Establishment and the MMA as they spell out two possible consequences of this widening conflict. One, the religious conglomeration will emerge as the main contender for power in the next election or showdown, leaving the liberal democratic outfits like the PPPP and the PML (N) to play second fiddle.
Two, should the Establishment and the MMA go for an all-out clash both sides would suffer serious losses with unpredictable consequences for national security and ideological foundations of the country.
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