ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's main opposition group said Tuesday it would not force a no-confidence vote in the government, offering a reprieve but leaving the coalition weak after a key ally quit at the weekend. The second-biggest opposition party also said it would not push for a no-confidence vote, suggesting the opposition may prefer to wear down a weak prime minister by blocking legislation or even through street protests to force a call for an early election. The coalition partner, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), pulled out of the US-backed administration over a rise in fuel prices, leaving the government, which is trying to strengthen the economy, ease poverty and tackle militancy, without a majority. “The government may survive for some time but it can't continue indefinitely in this state,” said political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi. “It has to muster support. The opposition will continue to embarrass it and paralyze it.” The Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, said it would not demand a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani because to do so would exacerbate instability in the South Asian nation. The PML-N believes a no-confidence vote would “damage the whole country,” chairman Raja Zafar-ul-Haq told Reuters. PML-N spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said “at the moment, a no-confidence vote does not look like a possibility”. The second-biggest opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League, headed by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain (PML-Q), is also not pushing for a no-confidence vote either, party officials said. PML-N leaders were due to decide on Tuesday on the party's response to the political turmoil in Pakistan, which Washington sees as indispensable in the fight against militancy. Sharif is one of Pakistan's most popular politicians. “The opposition will want this government to collapse rather then they moving against it. All opposition parties will pounce on Gilani in the parliament,” said Rizvi. That could add to the difficulties of the government in pushing through economic reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund, which has been propping up Pakistan's economy with an $11 billion loan agreed in November of 2008. Even before the latest setback, the government faced opposition from almost all political parties to its bid to implement a reformed general sales tax (RGST) – a key condition of the IMF for the release of the sixth tranche of the loan. Changes to the sales tax had originally been scheduled for implementation in July but have been delayed several times. It is currently under review in parliament. The delays will squeeze Pakistan's budget as its spending is surging to deal with the aftermath of 2010 summer floods that caused almost $10 billion in damage. Endemic tax evasion means the country's tax-to-GDP ratio is around 10 percent, one of the lowest in the world. “The RGST for our economy is like a life-saving drug for a man on a death-bed. But all depends on the political will - there can be no RGST without the political will,” a finance ministry official said. Pakistan Taliban militants may also seize on Gilani's vulnerability by stepping up its violent campaign of suicide bombings designed to destabilise the government. The upheaval coincides with increased US pressure on Pakistan to hunt down Islamist militant groups to help it turn around the faltering war in Afghanistan.
