(dpa) - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday called for the National Assembly to convene on March 17, weeks after the opposition parties inflicted a crushing defeat on his political allies in elections, the official government news service reported.
The president signed the summary sent to him by caretaker Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro to summon the sessions of the National Assembly and provincial assemblies on March 17, the Associated Press of Pakistan said.
The announcement came two days after the slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of another ex-premier, Nawaz Sharif, signed a deal for the formation of a coalition government.
The PPP emerged with the most seats, 120, in the 372-member National Assembly, while PML-N was the runner up with 90 seats.
The two opposition parties have said they will restore more than 60 senior judges deposed by Musharraf under an emergency order on November 3 within 30 days of the formation of the government.
The move could further cloud the political future of the embattled president, whose popularity has nose-dived since he sacked the judges in order to prevent the Supreme Court from disqualifying him for another presidential term. Following the emergency proclamation, Musharraf packed the court with hand-picked judges who approved his re-election.
The judges, when restored, can revoke the approval and force Musharraf, a key US ally, to leave office.