Moral support for Gilani in parliament

Hours after being indicted by the Supreme Court over a disputed contempt charge, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani seemed winning some moral support across party lines in the National Assembly on Monday evening. Gilani was greeted with thumping of desks as he entered the house. Lawmakers from both sides went to him to shake his hand or say a few words of possible support to him. PPP-S chief Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao was the first opposition figure to walk to Gilani to hug him. Later,  lawmakers of other parties, including some female members from the PML-N, made a beeline to the prime minister’s desk during his brief stay in the house. Meanwhile, the federal cabinet on Tuesday expressed “full confidence” in Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. “The cabinet unanimously applauded the conduct of the prime minister in the Supreme Court and reposed full confidence in his leadership,” his office said in a statement. Gilani thanked the cabinet and said he was premier “due to the support of members of parliament, his cabinet colleagues and of the coalition partners”.