A man mourns the death of his father, who was killed in Monday’s suicide bombing, during a funeral prayer in Rawalpindi on Tuesday. (AP)

Islamabad, Nov. 3 (Reuters): The Pakistan government has averted a coalition split by abandoning a bid to get parliamentary approval for an amnesty from graft charges for the President and other senior politicians.

The amnesty, introduced by former President Pervez Musharraf in 2007 in a bid to strike a power-sharing deal with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was to be debated in parliament this week as the government struggles with a surge in militant violence.

Musharraf introduced the amnesty, known as the National Reconciliation Order (NRO) by decree, but the Supreme Court said in July that it had to be approved by parliament.

It hit a hurdle, however, when Opposition politicians — and some members of a coalition led by President Asif Ali Zardari’s party — said they would vote against the order, which they said legitimised corruption. The 2007 order cleared the way for Bhutto to return from self-imposed exile and take part in a general election by granting her amnesty from prosecution on graft charges.

She was assassinated two months after returning but her husband, Zardari, went on to lead her party to victory in February 2008 polls and to become President later that year. Zardari spent years in jail on corruption charges.

Opposition to parliamentary approval for the amnesty could have driven rifts in the coalition, with one partner even suggesting Zardari step down over the issue. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told the Assembly today the government abandoned the plan to avoid divisions.

“The democratic system in the country is already very fragile. We have to protect this institution,” he said, referring to parliament. “The sense of the House was that the NRO should not be brought into the house. We didn’t make it an issue of ego ... we have decided not to insist on it.”

The withdrawal of the order from parliament will not open Zardari to any corruption prosecutions, but accusations still hang over him and could provide his enemies with ammunition.