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Musharraf may rope in Moeen Qureshi to run Pak government

Pakistan is likely to hire the service of former prime minister Moeen Qureshi to run the government with General Pervez Musharraf as the president of the country.

Two federal ministers, Information Minister Javed Jabbar and Agriculture Minister Shafiq Jamot, have resigned in the last three days. There is speculation that Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz will resign as the economic scene continues to be dismal, The Dawn reported on Wednesday.

Two factors weighing heavily on the finance minister's mind could be the blockage of loans, which were expected by June or July, by the International Monetary Fund and the dispute with private power producers, especially Hub Power Company.

Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf seems to be least perturbed by the resignations of his cabinet colleagues and remarked that nobody was indispensable.

"I accept the resignation of whosoever tenders it. There is no doubt that nobody is indispensable and one may quit if one wants. I had said previously that selection of my team would be on merit and continuation would be on performance," Musharraf said.

Pakistan's military government might ask Moeen Qureshi to head the interim government. This will satisfy Western countries and help the government to hold elections in 2001.

The country's apex court has given the military government three years to rule after they dismissed the elected government of Nawaz Sharif in October last. Sharif was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of hijacking and terrorism in April. In July, he was convicted on corruption charges.

Pakistan's economy has been hit by a prolonged recession that has been compounded by $38 billion of overseas debt and the IMF not releasing long-awaited loans. Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves are down to $1.009 billion, enough for five weeks of imports. The country is also in danger of defaulting on loan repayments unless these are rescheduled.

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