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PML-Q stakes claim to form
government in Pakistan

PML-Q, which has the highest number of 122 seats in the 342-member national assembly, has got enough support for a simple majority, the party's parliamentary leader Chaudhary Sujat Hussain was quoted as saying.

PML-Q, referred to as the 'King's party' as it is perceived to be backed by the military regime, has the support of the National Alliance, which won 16 seats in the October 10 polls, media reports said.

As for the rest, the party hopes to get the support of independents and regional parties, including the Sindh-based Muthahida Quami Movement (MQM), the reports said.

The party chose Jamali, who was the caretaker chief minister of Baluchistan in the past, as its prime ministerial candidate though the bulk of its members were elected from the Punjab province.

Jamali's name was proposed on Friday night by Hussain, who has been assigned the task of working out a compromise formula with President Gen Pervez Musharraf over his constitutional amendments, by the main political parties.

Soon after Jamali's nomination, he called on Musharraf accompanied by other party leaders. The meeting lasted for three-and-a-half hours, the reports said.

Musharraf told the PML-Q delegation that parliament would be convened shortly as the electoral process has been completed after the notification of seats reserved for women and minority.

They discussed the post-election scenario at the national level and in the provinces.

Hussain, who too was part of the delegation, briefed Musharraf about the parties' position in the post-election scenario. He also apprised the president of his meetings with leaders of the Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) and Muttahida Majlis-e Amal (MMA) as well as their reservations over recent amendments to the constitution.

The PPPP (81 seats) and the MMA (59 seats) have made it clear that they would not support the PML-Q due to its pro-Musharraf stand.

The MMA, which is against the constitutional amendments brought in by Musharraf, on Friday night made a case for its prime ministerial candidate Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

More reports from Pakistan

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