LAHORE, March 29: On receiving a credible information that PML-N ministers may misbehave or raise slogans against President Pervez Musharraf after taking oath of office, the Presidency has approached the Prime Minister’s Secretariat urging it to ensure that nobody violates ‘decorum’ or turns the ceremony into a ‘laughing stock’.

Official sources told Dawn on Saturday that the Presidency had told the Prime Minister’s Secretariat that it was the prime minister’s responsibility to ensure that the oath-taking ceremony was completed in a dignified manner.

Some PPP leaders present at the oath-taking ceremony for Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani had raised “Jeay Bhutto” slogans, irritating the president. The matter was immediately taken up by the two sides after which the Presidency believes that the PPP ministers would show a decorous behaviour at the oath-taking ceremony, no matter what the conduct of their PML-N counterparts would be.

Asked whether the Presidency had taken some precautionary measures to deal with the ‘likely’ situation, sources said it was the prime minister’s responsibility to ensure that no cabinet member misbehaves.

PML-N leaders don’t recognise President Musharraf a legitimately elected head of state. Initially, the PML-N ministers-designate were not willing to take oath at the hands of President Musharraf. However, they changed their mind when the PPP leadership gave them an assurance about the reinstatement of superior courts judges deposed under the Nov 3 Provisional Constitution Order.

The PML-N wants President Musharraf to quit immediately or the new governing coalition would have to impeach him. They are trying to mount as much pressure as possible with the prime objective of forcing the president to step down.

The impeachment of the president is possible only if a two-thirds majority of both houses of parliament at a joint session passes a resolution against him.

High-level PPP sources say that the party has no immediate plans to impeach the president, as it doesn’t have the required numerical strength in the bicameral legislature.

“Unless the president oversteps his jurisdiction, there is no possibility of the PPP thinking of such a plan,” sources said.

They denied reports that the PPP planned to dislodge Muhammadmian Soomro as the Senate chairman. “No such things is under consideration at present”, sources said, adding that the ruling coalition did not have the numbers game on its side.

However, the Senate chairman is closely monitoring the situation. It is said that he has told some of his friends that the ruling coalition could try to remove him through a no-confidence vote to bring in a man of their own choice.