ISLAMABAD, Dec 19 (AFP): President Asif Ali Zardari chaired crisis talks with Pakistan's ruling party Saturday on how to prevent his government unravelling after a court scrapped an amnesty on corruption charges.
In a bid to head off what could be the worst political crisis of his troubled 15 months in power, the president convened the central executive committee of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) here.
The meeting comes after the Supreme Court annulled a decree protecting more than 8,000 people, including Zardari and top allies, from corruption charges, in a move welcomed by a public increasingly fed up with the government.
A court has since summoned Interior Minister Rehman Malik over re-opening a corruption case and officials also banned Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar from leaving the country on an official visit to close ally China.
Pakistan's anti-corruption National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has called for travel bans on 253 people since Wednesday's court ruling, sparking calls for Zardari to resign and rattling the US-backed government.
Zardari convenes Pakistan crisis talks
FE Team | Published: December 20, 2009 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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