Zafarullah Khan Jamali

Islamabad, June 25 (Agencies): Pakistan Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali today said that he has not resigned from the government nor has anyone asked him to do so.

“People should believe when the Prime Minister is saying something and it is improper for him to keep clarifying on a day-to-day basis about his post,” Jamali said here. The Prime Minister’s clarification came after speculation that he was in the process of being removed by President Pervez Musharraf to revamp the government.

The speculation had been rife for over a month but Jamali, a former bodyguard of Fatima Jinnah, wife of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, kept denying the rumours.

The stout, softly-spoken 60-year-old was sworn in as Prime Minister in November, 2002, a month after elections were held that formally returned the country to civilian rule following three years of military dictatorship. But Jamali has been portrayed as a pawn the President may now be willing to sacrifice.

Political commentators said Musharraf was unhappy with Jamali’s performance and his failure to endorse his policies strongly enough. English and Urdu newspapers have been full of speculation over Jamali’s fate in recent days. A minister in Jamali’s government declined to discuss the rumours, saying: “Nothing is clear, there is no news”.

Potential replacements for Jamali, should the rumours prove correct, include commerce minister Humayun Akhtar Khan, a successful businessman with close links to the military.

Jamali’s tenure has been beset by problems centring around a clash between Musharraf and Opposition parties who object to what they say is the army’s dominant role in Pakistani politics.

In the latest standoff, a six-party conservative Islamic alliance has demanded that Musharraf steps down as head of the army by the end of the year, a promise the President has hinted he may not keep.

Fazal-ur-Rehman, leader of the Opposition and prominent member of the Islamic bloc, boycotted the inaugural meeting of the National Security Council yesterday, saying that the body would further enhance the military’s role in civilian life.

Today, Pakistan’s main stock exchange in Karachi fell on rumours Jamali was set to resign. The 100-share Karachi Stock Exchange index fell 45.33 points, or 0.88 per cent, to close at 5,105.69 points. “People were asking each other whether Jamali had already resigned,” said Sajjad Mankani, a dealer at BMA Capital Management. “The market has remained in the grip of rumours and speculation about Jamali all day,” he said.