Tarot reader forecasts PPP-PML(N) Govt in Pak

Islamabad: A Pakistani tarot card reader, who had predicted President Pervez Musharraf's re-election and the postponement of the general election, has now forecast that the Pakistan People's Party and PML-N will form a short-lived coalition government at the centre.

Begum Shagufta Anwar, who hit the headlines with her predictions last year, has said the Pakistan People's Party and PML-N will form a coalition government at the centre after the polls but fresh elections will be called in 2009 as the next parliament will survive for only a year.

Anwar had predicted the removal of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and the end to the political career of former premier Shaukat Aziz, who is not contesting the general election.

She told The Frontier Post newspaper that the parliament formed after today's general election will last less than a year and fresh polls will be called in 2009.

According to her predictions, the PPP will win between 140 and 150 seats in the National Assembly while the PML-N would emerge victorious in 80 to 90 constituencies. The ruling PML-Q will bag only about 20 to 25 seats, she said.

Anwar said in the politically crucial Punjab province, the PML-N will emerge the leading party by winning between 90 and 100 seats in the provincial assembly. The PPP will bag about 90 seats and the PML-Q 70 to 80 seats.

However, the chief minister of Punjab will be from the PPP, she said. The coalition government between the PPP and PML-N will not be 'very smooth' and will run into snags 'earlier than expected', she claimed.

Anwar also said the political fate of Musharraf will be decided between three to six months after the general election and he should 'prepare himself for a bumpy political ride during this period'.

Musharraf's alliance with the PML-Q has affected his political future and 'if he was not able to strike new political deals, more difficulties would emerge for his political survival', she said.

Anwar said army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has no political ambitions and 'was honest and pious and very loyal to the country'.

The tarot showed that he has the capability to pull Pakistan out of the current crisis and create an atmosphere of peace and security for the people, she said.