Gilani's chair breaks during award ceremony

Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani faced some embarrassing moments when a chair buckled under his weight at an official function in the capital city, prompting a participant to say that this may be a "bad omen" for the top Pakistan People's party leader.

Gilani's aide-de-camp, who was standing behind him, came to his rescue and saved him from falling to the ground after the chair gave way during the event at the National University of Science and Technology yesterday, a media report said on Tuesday.

 The Prime Minister "sat on the edge of the broken chair for a while" and the organisers replaced his chair later while he was standing and distributing prizes to students, The News daily reported.

Participants at the event "expressed surprise that a broken chair was assigned for the chief guest who is also the Prime Minister," the report said.

"The chair is really weak," one mortified participant was quoted as saying by the daily. "This may be a bad omen for the prime minister," said another unnamed participant.